India's junior women's 10m air pistol team clinches gold

New Delhi: India's junior women's team, comprising Olympian Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Shikha Narwal, struck gold in the 10m Air Pistol team event on Day Eight of the 15th Asian Airgun Championship in Daegu, South Korea on Thursday.

The Indian trio beat the South Korean team comprising Kim Minseo, Kim Juhee and Yang Jiin 16-12 in the title clash to win the country's 23rd gold medal, with one day of the competition remaining.

Manu, Esha and Shikha made the final after shooting through two rounds of qualification. In the first, they topped the field with a score of 862 which equalled the Asian record in the event. They remained on top in the second qualification round as well with a combined score of 576.

The hosts South Korea followed them into the gold medal match, coming second with a score of 572. The final was hard fought, but the Indian trio was too good for the Koreans in the end.

India also won a silver on the day in the Women's 10m Air Pistol team event, when Rhythm Sangwan, Palak and Yuvika Tomar, went down to a South Korean team comprising Kim Jangmi, Kim Bomi and Hyunyoung Yoo by a similar 12-16 margin in the gold medal encounter.

Rhythm, Palak and Yuvika came fourth in the qualification round one with a score of 854, before topping round two to make the gold medal match. They shot 578 to Korea's 576, who finished second. In the final, however, the Koreans got the better of the Indians to claim gold and Singapore won bronze in the event.

With 23 gold, nine silver and four bronze medals, the Indian shooting team leads the Asian Airgun Championship 2022 medals table with 36 medals. South Korea follows India on the table with 26 medals -- four gold, 14 silver and eight bronze.

The final day of the tournament has the 10m Air Pistol Mixed team and Mixed Team Junior events on schedule and India will look to sign off with more wins. (IANS)