Deepak Kumar and Lakshay Sheoran, shooters with contrasting career paths, made major breakthroughs on Monday by winning silver in the men’s 10m air rifle and men’s trap.
The 33-year-old Deepak did not mind the long wait for a major medal, 14 years after he took up the sport. Lakshay, on the other hand, picked up the gun only four years ago as a teenager and at 20, is now a silver medallist at Asiad, equalling the feat achieved by Manavjit Singh Sandhu at Doha 2006.
Sandhu also happened to be in the trap field and was in the medal hunt until he missed five targets towards the end to finish fourth.
With father Somvir being a former National wrestler, it was no surprise that Lakshay rushed to touch Sandhu’s feet right after the competition was over.
The trap final was won by Chinese Taipei’s Kunpi Yang, who shot 48 to equal the world record. Lakshay shot 43 while South Korean Daemyeong Ahn took the bronze with 30.
Another silver came India’s way with Deepak producing a late surge in the 10m rifle event.
China’s Yang Haoran retained the gold with an aggregate of 249.1, pushing Taipei’s Lu Shaochuan to third with 226.8 in the 24-shot final. Ravi Kumar finished fourth. Deepak shot a perfect 10.9 to dislodge his Air Force mate before producing a 10.8 to pip the Taipei shooter.
