Asian Games 2023: 10m air rifle team earns India its first gold in Hangzhou

An Indian 10m air rifle team led by 19yearold Rudrankksh Patil gave the country its first gold medal at the Asian Games securing the top place on the podium with a world record score on MondayThe trio of Rudrankksh Olympian Divyansh Singh Panwar and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar aggregated 18937 in the qualification round to beat back the challenge of the shooting powerhouse China and South Korea on way to goldIn one of the most dominating displays seen by Indian air rifle shooters in multidiscipline events the 19yearold Rudrankksh shot a superb 6325 Tomar 6316 and Panwar 6296 to aggregate the world record score as South Korean was pushed to second spot 18901 while the Chinese team was a distant third with an aggregate score of 18882Also ReadSuma Shirur lsquoIrsquom proud of my girlsrsquoRudrankksh and Aishwary also made it to the eightshooter finals in the event and would be gunning for more glory after the qualification roundIn 10m air rifle shooting team event the aggregate of the qualification scores decide the medallists while the eight top shooters in the preliminary round move into the finals for individual gloryWhile all three Indian marksmen shot amazing scores Divyansh would be extremely disappointed to miss the finals berth due to an Asian Games rule where only two marksmen from a particular country can make it to the finalsRudrankksh entered the finals placed third while Aishwary was fifth after the qualification round Divyansh was placed eighth and had it been a World Cup or a World Championship or any other continental shooting competition all three Indians would have been in the eightshooter finalHowever Divyansh had to make way for Kazakhsrans Islam Satpayev who was placed ninth but still qualified for the finals because of the ruleSheng Lihao of China topped the qualification round with a score of 6345 a qualification Asian Games record while South Koreas Park Hajun was second at 6328Rudrankksh at 6325 was third entering the finals while Aishwary was fifth at 6316 among the list of qualifiersThe Indian trio was just unbeatable on way to team gold with Rudrankksh true to his form shooting superb series of 1048 1061 1038 1055 1067 and 1056 Aishwary had a series of 1041 1055 1053 1057 1057 and 1053 in qualificationDivyansh who represented the country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics shot a series of 1048 1043 1046 1047 1063 and 1049With the kind of scores the Indians shot it left other competitors just doing catchup for the team goldRudrankkshs father Balasahab Patil told PTI following his sons exploits My son was determined to give his best at the Games He has great confidence in his abilities and before leaving for Hangzhou Rudrankksh said he would aim to bring the first gold for the countryHe had ironed out all the minor issues in his shooting before leaving for Hangzhou He trained extremely hard in these last two monthsRudrankksh was not included in the ISSF World Championshipbound squad to Baku by the National Rifle Association of India NRAI as the federation wanted to maximise the countrys chances of bagging more Paris Olympic quota places for the country by sending other marksmenRudrankksh has already clinched an Olympic quota place for the country by virtue of winning the World Championships gold in Cairo last yearIn fact while the World Championships were on in Baku last month he shot way better that the goldmedal winner in the Azerbaijan capital in simulated conditions created for him at the Karni Singh Ranges in DelhiWith agency inputs