Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
Vivaan Kapoor,Teenager Esha Singh,Bhakti Bhaskar Khamkar fired their way to individual golds as Indian juniors extended their dominance on the 3rd day of the 14th Asian Shooting Championship (ASC) in Lusail, Qatar.
The juniors picked up 10 more medals including five gold, accounting for 18 of the 23 medals won by the country so far.
In the Jr trap competition it was 1-2 for India as Vivaan Kapoor picked up the gold with compatriot Bhowneesh Mendiratta claiming the silver.
The pair had before that combined with Manavaditya Singh Rathore to secure the team gold in the event as well.
Teenager Esha Singh also won a golden double on the day, capturing both the individual and team titles in the 10m Air Pistol Women Jr competition. Hers was also a wire-to-wire performance, topping qualification with a 579 and then winning the finals with a 242.2 finish.
Compatriot Priya Raghav was third in qualification with 574 and finished in the same position in the final closing out with a 217.6.
Jeong Hyo of Korea won silver while Esha, Priya and Yuvika Tomar won the team gold with a total of 1721, which eclipsed both the Asian and World Junior records in the category.
Vivaan, who picked up his second and third yellow metal of the competition after winning the Junior Trap Mixed team event on the opening day partnering Manisha Keer, continued his good form topping qualification with a solid 120 out of 125. Bhowneesh was second with 118 while Manavaditya missed out on the final finishing eighth with a score of 109.
Vivaan then missed 5 birds in the final to emerge triumphant with a score of 45 as Bhowneesh missed eight for the silver. Li Siwei of China won bronze.
Bhakti Bhaskar Khamkar won India’s fifth gold of the day, besting the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women Jr event with a dominating 453.1 in the final. China’s Yu Jianuan who won silver finished with 448.7, more than four behind Bhakti.
Bhakti, Ayushi Podder and Nishchal also won the team silver in the event. So did the trio of Niraj Kumar, Harshrajsinhji Gohil and Nitish Kumar in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men Junior event. Niraj also picked up the individual silver.
Meanwhile Chinki Yadav also kept India’s search of Tokyo 2020 quotas alive in the Women’s 25m Pistol, placing fifth after round one of qualification.
Chinki shot an exceptional 292 and will be looking to make the final on Friday to try and get a shot at clinching one of the four available Tokyo berths. Rahi Sarnobat has already secured the other quota place for India in the event in earlier competitions.