Asian Games: With two gold, India shooters win 7 medals on Day 4

Hangzhou : Sift Kaur Samra, a 22-year-old MBBS student from Faridkot in Punjab, made history at the Asian Games at the Asian Games becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal in rifle shooting as the country dominated the shooting ranges on Wednesday by claiming seven medals at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre in Hangzhou.

Sift Kaur, who had a year back contemplated quitting the sport altogether as she was finding it difficult to juggle studies and sports, persevered with shooting and made history for India, winning the gold medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-Positions Individual with a world record score of 469.6.

She improved on the previous world record of 467.0 set by Seonaid McIntosh of Great Britain in the ISSF World Cup in Baku in May this year. Sift finished ahead of Qiongyue Zhang of China (462.3) and compatriot Ashi Choksey (451.9). It could easily have been a golf-silver result for India but for a poor score by Ashi Chouksey on her final shot that dropped her to the third position.

In all, India won two gold, three silver and three bronze medals on the Wonderful Wednesday at the Asian Games, with Rhythm Sangwan, Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh winning the gold medal in the women's 25m Pistol Team event.

The silver medals were bagged by the Sift Kaur Samra, Ashi Chouksey and Manini Kaushik in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions Team event, Esha Singh in the Women's in 25m Pistol Individual and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka in the Men's Skeet Individual.

Naruka had earlier partnered with Angad Vir Singh Bajwa and Gurjoat Singh Khangura to win bronze in the Men's Skeet Team event.