Shooting over the years, has picked up popularity in India, perhaps across all regions. But for those of you, who don’t follow the sport that ardently, 10m air rifle does ring a bell. It is the same event where Abhinav Bindra bagged the country’s first individual gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Cut to the 2012 Rio Olympics, Gagan Narang shot his way to a bronze medal. Since then, the 10m air rifle has been India’s favorite event in shooting, across all categories.
On Monday, Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh, and Divyansh Panwar went on to win gold in the men’s 10m air rifle team event at the Asian Games, which was rather expected from the caliber of these shooters. Post that Aishwary also took home a bronze in the individual event. This was only a testimony to the fact that we produce some of the world’s best in this category. While the medals in the Olympics might have stopped a decade ago, but there’s always a hope that shooting can make India a sporting powerhouse, and 10m air rifle will have a major part to play.
Having said that, our shooters have consistently delivered at the continental stage in the 10m air rifle event. InsideSport takes a look at some of the medals by Indians in the event at Asian Games, in the last three editions.
Gagan Narang (2010 Asian Games)
In the first multi-nation event after the Beijing Olympics, Gagan Narang operated on a whole different level. In a field that had Sanjeev Rajput and Abhinav Bindra as well, he finished second in the qualification. The other two could not make the final, but that was hardly any worry as Narang went on to win a silver medal with a total score of 700.7, behind China’s Zhu Qinan. That was also a time when the scores of the qualification were added to the final score. Interestingly, Narang bagged this medal a month after his CWG feat, where he shattered the World Record with a score of 703.6.
Abhinav Bindra (2014 Asian Games)
When many believed Bindra was past his prime, he came up with a performance to remember for a lifetime. In a strong line-up dominated by the Chinese, Bindra was the only one to qualify for the final, as Sanjeev Rajput and Ravi Kumar failed miserably. Bindra shot 625.4 and in the final managed a score of 187.1. Till about the fourth series of the final, he was in running for the silver, but a couple of bad shots meant China’s Cao Yifei took home the second prize.
Deepak Kumar (2018 Asian Games)
After Narang and Bindra hung up their boots, it was going to be a challenge for the next line of shooters to step up. But Deepak Kumar expectedly proved his mettle at the showpiece event. He qualified fifth with a score of 626.3 in the qualification event, while compatriot Ravi shot 626.7. But in the final Deepak held his nerve to win a silver medal with 247.7 points.
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