Asian Games 2018: Saurabh Chaudhary wins gold, Abhishek Verma bags bronze
Palembang: Debutant teenager Saurabh Chaudhary clinched India's first shooting gold of the 18th Asian Games, fetching the top honours in the men's 10m air pistol event here on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old Chaudhary, who topped the qualifying round, shot a Games record score of 240.7 to pip Japan's Tomoyuki Matsuda (239.7) in an exciting final to add a gold to India's shooting tally of two silver and a bronze this Asiad.
16-year-old #SaurabhChaudhary brings #TeamIndia its third Gold medal🥇at the #AsianGames2018. Saurabh shot a Games Record of 240.7 in the Finals of Men's 10m Air Pistol event where #AbhishekVerma also added another a Bronze 🥉for the country. #Congratulations boys!#IAmTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/7YXZxQQDTq
— Team India (@ioaindia) August 21, 2018
Hobby shooter Abhishek Verma, also making his Asian Games debut at 29, settled for the bronze medal in the same event with a score of 219.3.
In second position for most of the final, Chaudhary grabbed the lead after Matsuda fired 8.9 in his penultimate shot. The Indian went ahead with a 10.2 off his second-last shot and held the nerve to stay ahead.
Superb show by young Saurabh !! Many many Congratulations. We must pledge support to these young athletes for a sustained period of time irrespective of results. They have the ingredients for Olympic success. Needs persistent support irrespective.
— Abhinav Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 21, 2018
