Key Moment: By finishing fifth in Thursday's first qualifying round of the Asian Shooting Championship, Chinki Yadav has kept India's hopes alive for a second Olympic berth in the women's 25m Pistol.
Highlights: Chinki Yadav kept alive India’s expectations of securing the second Olympic standard in women’s 25m Pistol, sticking to fifth spot in the first-round qualification of the Asian Shooting Championship on Thursday.
In the women's 25m Pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championship, Chinki Yadav secured a fifth-place finish during Thursday's first qualifying round, keeping the possibility of a second Olympic quota open for India. With a strong score of 292, she is now looking forward to Friday's final to compete for one of the four available Tokyo slots. Rahi Sarnobat had previously secured the first quota for India in this discipline.
Beyond Chinki's performance, India exerted dominance in the junior events, earning 18 out of the nation's 23 medals. Vivaan Kapoor and Esha were the stars of the show, winning two gold medals each. At the Lusail Shooting complex, the junior men's trap competition was a particular success, with Vivaan winning the individual gold and Bhowneesh Mendiratta taking silver.
Joining forces with Manavaditya Singh Rathore, Vivaan and Bhowneesh captured the team gold. Vivaan, who had already won gold in the junior trap mixed team event alongside Manisha Keer, maintained his momentum by leading the qualification round with a score of 120 out of 125.
Bhowneesh followed closely in second with 118, while Manavaditya finished eighth with 109. Despite missing five targets in the final, Vivaan secured the gold with a score of 45, while Bhowneesh took silver after missing eight. China's Li Siwei claimed the bronze. Esha also had a perfect day, winning both individual and team gold in the junior women's 10m air pistol. She led the qualification with 579 and won the final with 242.2, while Priya Raghav took third place in both the qualifying (574) and final (217.6) rounds.
South Korea's Jeong Hyo took silver, but the Indian trio of Esha, Priya, and Yuvika Tomar dominated the team event. Their combined score of 1721 didn't just win gold; it shattered both the Asian and world junior records. Additionally, Bhakti Bhaskar Khamkar added a fifth gold for India, winning the junior women's 50m rifle 3 positions with a commanding final score of 453.1.