Manu Bhaker-Led India Women Shooting Team Win Gold Medal In 25m Pistol Event At Asian Games 2023

India opened their gold medal tally on Day 4 of the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou on Wednesday. Indian shooting team of Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan won gold in the Women’s 25-metre Pistol team event, which is the fourth gold for India in the Asian Games 2023.

Indian team finished on top with a score of 1759. China took the silver with 1756 while Republic of Korea wins bronze with 1742.

Manu (590) tops the qualification round, Esha (586) finishes fifth. Rhythm (583) finishes seventh but since only two shooters per country are allowed in the final, Rhythm misses the cut.

_ Triumph Beyond Measure! ___

In the 25-meter Pistol Women's Team event, the formidable trio of @realmanubhaker, Sangwan Rhythm, and @singhesha10 secures India's pride with a GOLD medal finish! __

Their exceptional precision and teamwork deserve a standing ovation! ___ pic.twitter.com/lh7q3t8inx — SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 27, 2023

With this, India has bagged its seventh shooting medal and fourth gold medal overall.  Earlier, the team of Divyansh Singh Panwar, Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar had captured a world-record-breaking gold in men's 10 metre air rifle team. Also in the women’s 10 m air rifle team, the trio of Mehuli Ghosh, Ramita Jindal and Ashi Chouksey had got a silver.

Ramita also secured a bronze medal in the women’s 10 m air rifle individual event. Aishwary had also won a bronze in the men’s 10 m air rifle individual event. The men's 25 m rapid-fire pistol trio of Adarsh Singh, Vijayveer Sidhu and Anish Bhanwala had also got a bronze to their name.

This is India’s 16th medal at the ongoing continental meet. They have a total of four golds, five silver and seven bronze medals.

Earlier, with 876 points, the Indian trio of Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan finished on top in the 25m Pistol women’s team qualification on Tuesday at the Asian Games 2023.  China and Chinese Taipei are in second and third positions respectively.

Bhaker is at the top of the table with 294 points ahead of China's Sixuan Feng in the women’s 25m Pistol qualification in the precision round.  Esha finished third with 292 while Sangwan finished at 11th with 290.

The trio’s combined score has put India on top of the team event with 876 points. China is close behind with 874 points. World championships gold medallist Bhaker averaged 9.800 in the 25m pistol women's qualification precision event. Esha averaged 9.733.

Bhaker shot 99, 97, and 98 in the three rounds compared to the Chinese shooter's 96, 98, and 98. Esha also received scores of 96, 98, and 98, while the Vietnamese player received 97, 99, and 96 to get a score of 292.

(with ANI inputs)