Hangzhou Asian Games Day 2 | Shooting stars, women’s cricket team make India proud

Gold on debut and youth to the fore were the main themes for India at the Asian Games here on September 25. While the women’s cricket team finished on top, the young guns of Indian shooting combined for a new world record in the 10m air rifle team event.

And while they failed to get the yellow metal, the Indian rowers ended their campaign with two bronze as India finished the second day of competition with a satisfactory haul of two gold and three bronze to take its medal tally to 11, placing it sixth on the table.

Bronze medal winning Indian team member Satnam Singh, Parminder Singh, Jakar Khan, Sukhmeet Singh celebrate after the award ceremony of the Men’s Quadruple Sculls event of rowing at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China, on September 25, 2023. (Source: PTI)

Aged 22, 19, and 20 respectively, the trio of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil, and Divyansh Singh Panwar showed the next generation of Indian shooters was ready for the big stage, upsetting favourite and host China to score a total of 1893.7 points to give India its first gold here. The first two then ended up in a shoot-off for the bronze medal in the individual event. Panwar was unlucky to lose out on countbacks. In the 25m rapid fire pistol, Anish Bhanwala, Adarsh Singh and Vijayveer Sidhu finished third in team but Sidhu had to settle for fourth in the individual.

Indian shooters Rudrankksh Patil (right), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (centre) and Divyansh Singh Panwar pose for photos with their gold medals during the presentation ceremony of Men’s 10m Air Rifle team event at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China, on September 25, 2023. (Source: PTI)

The women’s cricket team, meanwhile, ensured that a low total would be no obstacle to their crowning glory, defeating Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final with 18-year-old Titas Sadhu making a mark.