Asian Airgun meet: India win 1 gold, 2 silver on Day 2

India’s shooters clinched a gold and two silver medals on Thursday, the second day of competition, to remain on top of the standings in the 12th Asian Airgun Championships, in Taoyuan, Taipei.

Ravi Kumar and Elavenil Valarivan won silver in the senior 10 metres air rifle mixed team event while it was a 1-2 for India in the corresponding junior event on yet another profitable day.

Ravi-Elavenil topped the qualification rounds with a score of 837.1 but were beaten in the five-team final by the Korean pair of Park Sunmin and Shin Minki.

The Koreans won the gold with a score of 499.6 to the Indians' 498.4. Chinese Taipei won the bronze.

A second Indian team comprising Deepak Kumar and Apurvi Chandela finished fourth.

In the junior 10m air rifle mixed team event, the Indian pairs of Shreya Agrawal-Yash Vardhan and Keval Prajapati-Mehuli Ghosh won gold and silver respectively.

The two Indian teams made it to the final round after Mehuli Ghosh-Keval Prajapati topped the qualification round with a score of 838.5 and Shreya Agrawal-Yash Vardhan qualified in second position with 831.2.

Shreya-Yash, however, turned tables on their compatriots in the final, piping them by a margin of 0.4 points.

Mehuli-Keval led throughout the final and opened up a gap of 1.6 points over Shreya-Yash going into the final six shots. But Shreya-Yash overturned the deficit, finishing with 497.3 to Mehuli-Keval's 496.9.

Korea won the bronze in the event.

On Wednesday, Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker won gold in the senior 10m air pistol mixed team event while Vijayveer Sidhu and Esha Singh clinched the yellow metal in the corresponding junior event for a double gold start for India.

With five medals in its kitty, India is on top of the standings and would look forward more Friday, Day 3 of the championships.