Indian shooters shine at Asian Games, 16-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary bags Gold, Abhishek Verma wins Bronze

JAKARTA: Indian shooter Saurabh Chaudhary bagged the third Gold for India at the 18th edition of Asian Games in Jakarta on Tuesday. The 16-year-old defeated Japan's Tomoyuki Matsuda in the Men's 10 metre Air Pistol final. 

The 16-year-old Chaudhary, who topped the qualifying round, shot a Games record score of 240.7 to defeat the Japanese in an exciting final. In the second position for most of the final, Chaudhary grabbed the lead after Matsuda fired 8.9 in his penultimate shot. The Indian went ahead with a 10.2 off his second-last shot and held the nerve to stay ahead. 

Not just Saurabh, India's hobby shooter Abhishek Verma bagged a Bronze medal for India in the Men's 10 metre Air Pistol final. Abhishek is making his debut at the Asian Games at the age of 29. He settled for the bronze medal with a score of 219.3.

Of the eight shooters, Saurabh had secured the top spot in the qualifications after a score of 586. His compatriot Abhishek scored 580 and was placed sixth.

Out of the total seven medals that India has won so far, there are three Gold medals, two Silver and two Bronze. Before Saurabh, the other two Golds were won in Wrestling by Bajrang Punia in Men's Freestyle 65 kg and Vinesh Phogat in Women's Freestyle 50 kg.