Kamal Ghorui
World champion Samrat Rana won a bronze medal in the men’s 10m air pistol at the Asian Championship on Wednesday after falling short of his qualification form in the final.Samrat, who won gold at last year’s World Championships in Cairo, started strongly in the season-opening event.
He shot 581 in the qualification round to finish second and move into the final with high expectations.However, the 21-year-old could not maintain that level in the medal round and finished with a score of 220.3. Uzbekistan’s Vladimir Svechnikov won the gold with 242.0, while Kazakhstan’s Valeriy Rakhimzhan took silver with 241.0.India had two shooters in the eight-man final, with Sharvan Kumar finishing fourth.In the team event, India won the silver medal. Samrat (581), Sharvan (578) and Varun Tomar (573) combined for a total score of 1,732 points. Uzbekistan also finished with 1,732 but claimed gold due to a higher inner-10 count of 58, compared to India’s 52. Kazakhstan secured bronze with 1,731 points.India have fielded the largest squad at the championships, with 118 shooters taking part. Kazakhstan has the second-largest team with 35 athletes.South Korea and Japan have also sent strong teams, while shooters from Chinese Taipei, Vietnam and Hong Kong are expected to challenge for medals during the competition.
