India's shooting contingent continued to bring in the team medals at the Hangzhou Asian games, with two more added on Friday morning. The men's 50m rifle 3 positions team of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale and Akhil Sheoran combined for a terrific gold medal, outgunning hosts China with a world record score of 1769, even before their third shooter had finished his qualification.
The women's 10m air pistol team of Esha Singh, Palak Gulia and Divya TS won silver with 1731 points, finishing behind China by 5 points, having to first make a comeback after a slow start. This is India's best-ever shooting medal haul at the Asian Games (15 medals including 5 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze), bettering the 14-medal haul from the 2006 edition (3 gold, 5 silver, 6 bronze).
India could well add to the medal tally with two shooters in both finals. Swapnil and Aishwary qualified for the men's 50m rifle 3p final with a terrific 1-2 finish, with a new Asian Games and Asian record score of 591. Swapnil was first due to a higher number of inner 10s (33 to 27). Akhil also finished in the top 8, fifth with a score of 587. However, he had to miss out due to the rules of having only two shooters from one country in the final.
In women's 10m air pistol, Esha and Palak also qualified for the individual final. Esha was placed fifth with a score of 579 and Palak was seventh with 577. Esha and Aishwary have already won individual medals in Hangzhou so far - a silver in women's 25m pistol and a bronze in men's 10m air rifle.
