Akhil Sheoran led an Indian 1-2 – the country’s fourth double podium of the competition – in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions, with Aishwary Tomar coming in second, as India extended their dominance at the on-going Asia Olympic Qualification in Jakarta.
The trio of Sheoran, Tomar and Swapnil Kusale also won the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions team gold taking India’s tally to a total of 10 gold, eight silver and six bronze medal at the end of day five on Friday.
All the three Indian men made the finals of the individual competition comfortably with Tomar (588) taking the second spot in the qualification round. Sheoran (586) and Kusale (584) finished third and fourth respectively as China’s Yu Hao topped the 44-member field with a score of 589.
Sheoran reaped rewards for consistent shooting in the 45-shot final and was in the reckoning after every position. He went from strength to strength, breaching 153 in the kneeling position, 154 in prone and then went shot 100.9 over the first 10 standing shots to zoom to second place.
Besides Tomar, Thailand’s Thongphaphum Vongsukdee was in real competition as the final five single shots in the standing position ensued and Sheoran pulled out three big shots in them to wrest the gold medal.
Sheoran, who had previously won a quota place for the 2024 Paris Olympics, finished with a total of 460.2, with Aishwary 1.2 behind as the Thai settled for bronze.
Kusale, on the other hand, finished sixth in the final.
Adarsh Singh, Vijayveer Sidhu in quota contention
At least a couple of Indian men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol shooters have also put themselves in serious contention for the one quota place that they can win between themselves in the event.
After the first day of qualification, Adarsh Singh and Vijayveer Sidhu are in sixth and seventh spots respectively with identical scores of 288. Gurpreet Singh is further down with a score of 281.
The top six qualify to the final and at least three shooters above them from Korea and Japan are ineligible for quotas at this stage.
Indian shooters, who have made the trip to log ranking points only and shoot the qualification round without being in medal contention, have also continued their good performance in the competition.