Sheoran, Tomar win gold and silver in men’s 50m 3 positions as Indian shooters continue to dominate Asian Qualifiers

Akhil Sheoran and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar completed a one-two in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event, winning gold and silver respectively on Friday as Indian shooters continued to dominate the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta. Sheoran finished on top of the podium with a score of 460.2 while Tomar, who had represented India at the Tokyo Olympics, finished narrowly short with a score of 459. Thailand’s Thongphaphum Vongsukdee collected bronze with a final score of 448.8. Tomar, however, would have a gold medal around his neck as he paired with Sheoran and Swapnil Kusale to win the team gold in 50m 3 positions, the Indians finishing ahead of China and South Korea with an aggregate of 1,758 points, 14 more than the second-placed team.

Gold 🥇 Silver🥈 yet again! Making it quite a habit now as @AkhhiiChenu (centre) & #AishwaryTomar (left) finish 1-2 in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions at the #AsiaOlympicQualification in Jakarta, 🇮🇩🔥🔥🇮🇳🇮🇳#IndianShooting pic.twitter.com/ohktSAvYpd

— NRAI (@OfficialNRAI) January 12, 2024

In the individual qualification, Tomar was placed third with a total score of 588, while Sheoran finished sixth with 586. India’s Niraj Kumar Chain Singh also participated in the qualification but for gaining ranking points only and was not eligible for entry into the final. The medals won Friday took India’s tally to 10 gold, eight silver and six bronze in the event. In the 50m rifle 3 positions, all three Indian men made the finals of the individual competition comfortably with Aishwary taking second, Sheoran third and Swapnil (584) the fourth qualifying spots, as China’s Yu Hao topped the 44-strong field with a 589. Sheoran reaped the rewards for consistent shooting in the 45-shot final and was in the reckoning after every position. He went from strength to strength, breaching 153 in the first kneeling position, 154 in prone and then shot 100.9 over the first 10 standing shots to zoom to second place. Besides Tomar, Thailand’s Vongsukdee was engaged in an intense competition as the final five single shots in the standing position ensued, and Sheoran produced three big scores to wrest the gold ahead of his challengers. Rapid-fire quotas to be decided on Saturday At least a couple of Indian men have also put themselves in serious contention for the one Paris Olympics quota place that they can win between themselves in the 25m rapid-fire pistol event. After the first day of qualification, Adarsh Singh and Vijayveer Sidhu were in the sixth and seventh spots respectively with identical scores of 288. Gurpreet Singh was further down with 281. The top six qualify and at least three shooters above them from Korea and Japan are ineligible for quotas at this stage. With inputs from PTI