Bhaker Misses Podium, Juniors Shine in 25m Pistol

Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the women’s 25m pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championship on Monday.

Seniors fall short

Bhaker ended with a score of 25, four points behind Vietnam’s Thu Vinh Trinh, who took bronze with 29. Compatriot Esha Singh, who had topped qualification earlier in the day, placed sixth in the eight-shooter final with 18 points. The Indian trio of Bhaker, Esha, and Simranpreet Kaur Brar combined for a team bronze with an aggregate of 1749, finishing behind China and South Korea.

Juniors dominate final

In contrast, India’s young shooters swept the women’s 25m pistol junior final. Payal Khatri secured gold with a tally of 36, Naamya Kapoor claimed silver with 30, and Tejaswani earned bronze with 27. The trio also bagged team silver after posting a combined score of 1700, just behind Korea and ahead of hosts Kazakhstan.

Chinese claim top spots

Earlier, China’s Yueyue Zhang and Jiaruixuan Xiao battled for gold in the senior category. Both finished with 39 before Zhang edged out her teammate 4-3 in a shoot-off to take the title.