The Indian men ended their campaign in the pistol events with a silver in the 25m centre fire event while the women exited from the 50m rifle 3-position without success at the Asian Games here on Friday.
The men pistol shooters, spearheaded by London Olympic Games silver medallist Vijay Kumar, clinched the second place with a total score of 1740, two behind gold medallist China.
Had the Mhow-based army men’s trio of Vijay, Pemba Tamang and Gurpreet Singh equalled the Chinese, it would have secured the gold as its inner tens was much higher than its formidable rival.
Vijay took part here despite being troubled by cervical spondylitis for which he is set to undergo surgery soon after returning home.
Eighth medal
It was the eighth medal the shooters won at the Games — one gold, one silver and six bronze — with six of them coming in team events.
Only Jitu Rai and Abhinav Bindra managed to win individual medals in Incheon, an indication of how competitive the shooting competition was.
Tamang scored a 99 in the precision round, but was slightly off the mark in rapid fire when he shot 97 to earn the eighth spot with a tally of 581. He was followed by Gurpreet (580, ninth) and Vijay (579, 12th).
Tamang, hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, said he tried very hard to give India a medal. “I am very happy with the silver after we, as a team, missed the bronze by a whisker (by virtue of shooting lesser inner tens) in 25m standard pistol,” said the father of two children.
“I have started to love shooting after joining the Army Marksmanship Unit in Mhow, and I want to make both my children take up this sport,” he added.
Gurpreet, whose two rounds fetched him scores of 95 and 97, said it was the last chance for him and his teammates, and he was happy to be returning home with at least one medal from the Games.
The Indian women’s team, comprising Lajja Gauswami, Anjali Bhagwat and Tejaswini Muley, finished sixth in the 50m rifle 3-position team finals.
Lajja flattered to deceive in the individual event, finishing seventh in the final, while Anjali (572) and Tejaswini (568) were eliminated after ending a distant 25th and 29th respectively.
The results: Men: 25m centre fire pistol: 1. Oleg Engachev (Qat) 585 (23x); 2. Jin Yongde (Chn) 585 (21x); 3. Gai Bin (Sin) 584; 8. Pemba Tamang 581; 9. Gurpreet Singh 580; 12. Vijay Kumar 579. Team: 1. China 1742; 2. India 1740; 3. Korea 1739.
Women: 50m rifle 3-position: 1. Olga Dovgun (Kaz) 456.4 (581); 2. Jeong Mira (Kor) 455.5 (583); 3. Chang Jing Chnr) 446.2 (580); 7. Lajja Gauswami 401.6 (582); 25. Anjali Bhagwat 572; 29. Tejaswini Muley 568. Team: 1. China 1737; 2. Korea 1734; 3. Kazakhstan 1727; 6. India 1722.
