NAGOYA, Sept 20: India opened its shooting campaign at the Asian Games with a silver medal as Sonam Uttam Maskar, Elavenil Valarivan and Vidarsa Vinod combined to finish second in the women’s 10m air rifle team event on Sunday.
The Indian trio posted a combined score of 1898.0 points to secure the silver medal. China won gold after setting a new qualification world record with 1904.2 points, surpassing its previous mark of 1902.0.
Hosts Japan finished third with 1897.1 points, just 0.9 points behind India, making the battle for silver a closely contested one.
Sonam led the Indian effort with an impressive 634.1, finishing third individually in qualification. Olympian Elavenil scored 633.5 to rank seventh, while Asian Games debutant Vidarsa contributed 630.4 and finished 12th.
Although Vidarsa did not qualify for the individual final, her score proved crucial in India’s team-medal finish.
The 27-year-old Kerala shooter said she remained focused during the competition and was pleased with the team’s performance.
“I was not nervous. I was confident and just focused on my shooting,” Vidarsa said.
Vidarsa has only recently taken up the 10m air rifle discipline, having previously focused primarily on the 50m rifle 3-positions event. She said she is confident of producing an improved performance in her main event.
Meanwhile, Sonam and Elavenil advanced to the individual final, giving India another opportunity to add to its medal tally.
China continued to demonstrate its strength in the event, with Wang Zifei topping qualification with 638.8 points and setting a new qualification Asian record. Han Jiyan also secured a place in the individual final.
The silver marks an encouraging start to India’s shooting campaign at the Asian Games. Indian shooters had won 22 medals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, including seven gold, nine silver and six bronze.
