Hangzhou:Indian shooters won a silver medal in the women's 50m rifle 3 position event at the Asian Games here on Wednesday. The trio of Ashi Chouksey, Manini Kaushik and Sift Kaur Samra shot a total of 1764 points in the qualification to finish second on the podium.
Hosts China won the gold with an aggregate score of 1773, while South Korea bagged the bronze with a total score of 1756. Samra and Chauksey qualified for the finals as well by finishing second and sixth respectively while Kaushik bowed out in the individual event by finishing 18th.
Sift scored a total of 594 to create a joint new Asian record for qualifying. Samra and Chouksey qualified for the finals as well by finishing second and sixth respectively, while Kaushik bowed out in the individual event by finishing 18th.
While Kaushik missed out on the final, Samra shot 100 in two series to finish with a total of 397 after kneeling and prone positions. Samra and Chouksey were excellent in their three series, more so in standing section, to finish in the top 8 and qualify for the individual final.
Kaushik said after the event, "I'm happy for my teammates and that we got a silver in the team competition. I'm just focusing on the positives at the moment. "At least I have a medal to show. I am not coming back empty-handed, so I am happy about that. I'm happy about my country, about my teammates, about my staff and all the people working with us."
On whether her tears after her competition were happy or sad tears, she said, "Both. I'm happy for my team and for my country, but I need to work on myself. There are mixed feelings but I'm just focusing on the positive sides at the moment."
An Indian Rifle Association said Sift Kaur Samra was "was sensational today". Her 594 not only helped the team win silver and take her to the final, but also helped her script an Asian and a Games record, the National Rifle Association (NRA) said in a statement shortly after the team won silver. (with PTI inputs)
