Punjab Newsline,Sports :
India’s Medal Tally Reaches 60 as Naamya Kapoor Clinches Junior Gold in Dramatic Finish
India’s campaign at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship continued to impress as the shooters delivered another strong performance at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range. Manu Bhaker narrowly missed out on the gold medal in the 25m Women’s Pistol event after going down to Vietnam’s Thuy Trang Nguyen in a gripping final that was decided after two intense shoot-offs.
The final witnessed a close contest among Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Nguyen, with all three shooters exchanging positions after almost every series. Esha began strongly with a perfect five in the opening series, while Manu and Nguyen scored four each. The competition remained tight throughout, with the Indian shooters consistently challenging the Vietnamese contender. A flawless sixth series gave Nguyen a crucial two-point lead, but Manu and Esha capitalised in the seventh series when Nguyen managed just one hit.
Esha was leading with 30 points at the end of the eighth series but faltered in the ninth, missing all her shots and eventually settling for the bronze medal. In the final series, Manu scored three while Nguyen managed two, tying the score at 35 and forcing a shoot-off. Both shooters hit two shots each in the first shoot-off, keeping the tension high. However, in the second shoot-off, Manu missed three shots, allowing Nguyen to secure the gold. Rhythm Sangwan, the third Indian finalist, finished fourth.
In the junior category, Naamya Kapoor displayed remarkable composure to clinch gold after a dramatic shoot-off against Indonesia’s Rihadatul Asyifa. Both shooters were tied at 29 points, but Naamya held her nerve to hit three shots in the shoot-off while her opponent missed all. Anjali Bhagwat secured bronze with 24 points, while Parisha Gupta finished fifth.
India also clinched team gold medals in both senior and junior categories, taking the overall tally to 60 medals, including 37 gold, 13 silver and 10 bronze.