India clinches 1st gold at Asian Games

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) - India bagged its first goal medal in the ongoing Asian Games in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on Monday.

The gold was clinched by the men’s 10m air rifle team.

Indian team members – Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Divyansh Singh Panwar – scored a team total of 1,893.7 points, breaking the world record of 1,893.3 points in 10m men’s air rifle team shooting.

Previously, the record was set by China at the Baku World Championship.

South Korea came in second with 1890.1 points, while host China stood in third place with 1888.2 points.

“Outstanding effort from our trio of Rudrankksh, Divyansh and Aishwary Pratap Tomar on clinching Bharat's 1st GOLD at the Games in 10m Air Rifle Men's team event! Our shooters delivered a phenomenal total score of 1893.7 to set the new Asian Games and World Record in the team event,” Indian Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said on X.

Rudrankksh has already got a spot in an Olympic quota place for the country as he won the World Championships gold in Cairo last year.

In the ongoing Asian Games, India has won seven medals, which included one gold, three silver and three bronze.