It was a double delight for India as a 16-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary and 29-year-old Abhishek Verma won gold and bronze respectively in men’s 10m air pistol event on Tuesday. India was defending its crown in the event as Jitu Rai won the same event four years ago at Incheon but his absence from the current edition was a big setback for India.
Also follow: Live Updates: India at Day 3 of Asian Games 2018 (21 August 2018)
Earlier in the qualification Saurabh took the first spot and he didn’t let the position slip when it all mattered in the final. With the last two shots of the final, Saurabh was at the second spot and Japan’s Matsuda was leading at the first spot.
Just when the things started looking as if it will be a possible silver and bronze for Indian shooter, pendulum swung and Matsuda shot a 8.9 and Chaudhary responded with a 10.3 to take the lead.
The 16-year-old from India shot 10.4 in the last shot and ensured that he bags the top honour with the games record.
Saurabh started shooting from 2015 as a hobby sport and since then he has shown alot of promise. He won three gold medals at the 2018 Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany and is now crowned the Asian champion.
Abhishek Verma was also impressive on the day, he finished sixth in the qualification and shot consistently to bag the bronze medal in the finals.
This is India’s third gold at the Asian event, the earlier two came from the wrestlers.
