Tension gripped the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range as Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar staged a dramatic comeback to win gold in the 50m rifle 3 positions at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship. On Thursday, Tomar sealed the deal with a masterful 10.7 on his decisive last shot, overtaking fellow Indian Neeraj Kumar to finish atop with 362.0 points.
Neeraj Kumar, entering the international arena with flair, led by 0.2 points before the final attempt after his 10.3. Tomar, a seasoned world championship silver medalist, needed 10.6 to win but exceeded expectations, leaving Neeraj with silver at 361.8 and Akhil Sheoran with bronze at 343.5.
India’s medal haul extended to the juniors, with Adran Karmakar dominating for his second gold of the meet at 353.2—4.7 points clear of silver medalist Dmitry Kim from Kazakhstan. Manvendrasinh Shekhawat secured bronze with a solid 338.6.
Qualification saw Neeraj lead with an impressive 593-34x, Tomar second at 588-40x, and Sheoran third at 588-32x. Their combined strength delivered team gold for India over Japan (silver) and Kazakhstan (bronze).
Notable mentions include Rudrankk Patil’s 591-33x, the qualification’s second-best, and Nikhil Tanwar’s 587-29x, both shooting for ranking points. In juniors, Karmakar built his lead post-sixth shot, while Shekhawat shone and Burman placed fifth via shoot-off.
With Sheoran’s prior bronze contributing to a clean sweep, India’s shooters affirmed their supremacy, setting the stage for further successes in the championship.