Gold, silver for Palak. Esha in record haul for shooters

Shooting continued to be India’s most productive suit at this edition of the Asian Games as the country’s medal tally surged to 33 on the sixth competition day of the Games on Friday — fuelled by the young trio of Esha Singh, Palak Gulia, and Diya TS winning the gold in women’s 10m air pistol, followed by a gold by the men’s 50m 3 Positions team of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale and Akhil Sheoran with a world record score.

- Shantanu Srivastava

But the crowning moment came in the individual women’s 10m rifle when teenagers Palak and Esha won gold and silver for a historic 1-2: the best any country can do in an individual event since only two players from a contingent are allowed to complete in the medal rounds.

The medal rush then continued in the afternoon, too, albeit not without drama. Swapnil Kusale slipped from gold medal position to fifth with an errant shot of 7.6, and eventually finished fourth, while Tomar crawled his way up to second from the back of the field.

The results meant India overhauled their 14-medal tally from shooting in the Doha Asian Games (2006) to reach 18 medals (six gold, seven silver, five bronze). With mixed team pistol events and trap competitions to go, the surge is likely to continue at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre on the weekend.