Sift Kaur Samra won India's first individual gold medal of the ongoing Asian Games on Wednesday, topping the women's 50m rifle 3 positions final with a new world record score of 469.6. Ashi Chouskey clinched the bronze, making it India's first double podium at Hangzhou. India's shooting medal tally is now up to ten, while there are nineteen medals overall.
The 22-year-old Sift, who had qualified for the final with an Asian Games record score (594), was sublime in the final from the beginning, sealing her gold medal well in advance by virtue of her whopping, 5-point lead.
She led the field from the third kneeling series and maintained the advantage throughout for a dominant gold medal. China's Zhang Qiongyue won silver, 7.3 points behind Sift with a score of 462.3
In 50m rifle 3P, the three positions to shoot from are kneeling, prone, standing. In each position you get fifteen shots (three series of five shots each) with eliminations starting in the last position, standing.
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Sift started the kneeling series in fifth, moved to third before climbing to the top with 154.6 after the first 15 shots. In the prone series, Sift continues to lead, finishing with 312.5 while Chouksey climbed up to second with 311.6.
The two kept themselves in medal positions throughout the elimination in the standing series, with Sift putting enough distance between her and silver to assure the gold. Chouksey, though, shot an 8.9 in her final shot - the worst possible time - to finish with bronze. Nevertheless, it was a splendid outing for both Indians.
The field was a strong one with China's Xia Siyu topping qualification and 10m air rifle medallist Lee Eunseo in the mix.
Earlier today, India also won the team silver in 50m 3P with a solid combined qualification score. Chouksey has a team medal in 10m air rifle as well.
Sift, an MBBS student, is competing at her first Asian Games and was coming off a fifth place finish in last month's World Championship where she sealed a Paris Olympics quota for India.