Amanpreet Singh delivered the finest performance of his career, clinching gold in the 25m centre fire pistol event as India swept the entire podium on the final day of the Asian Championship on Friday.
The 38-year-old produced a commanding score of 589 to seal the title. Fellow Indian and Olympian Gurpreet Singh secured silver with 584, while Ankur Goel completed the clean sweep by taking bronze with 570.
The dominance extended to the team competition, where the Indian trio amassed 1743 points to claim gold comfortably. Vietnam followed with 1671 for silver.
India concluded the championship in emphatic fashion, collecting seven medals on the final day to cap a stellar campaign. The contingent finished with 33 medals in senior rifle and pistol events — 13 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze — underlining its strength across disciplines.
In the women’s 50m rifle prone, Sift Kaur Samra fought to the final shot before narrowly missing gold. The 24-year-old fired an impressive 623.2 but was edged out by Kazakhstan’s Yelizaveta Bezrukova, who clinched gold with 623.4 in a gripping duel.
Veteran Olympian Tejaswini Sawant added to India’s medal tally with bronze, shooting 621.0 to mark her first podium finish since the 2021 World Cup in New Delhi.
The trio of Samra, Sawant and Jaipur’s Manini Kaushik combined for team gold, totaling 1862.9 points — just 0.1 ahead of Kazakhstan in a nail-biting finish.
In the junior ranks, Dhavalika Devi claimed bronze in the women’s 50m rifle junior prone event with 614.1. Kazakhstan’s Tomiris Amanova (620.1) and Darya Ponomarenko (615.4) took gold and silver respectively.
Another promising talent, Khwaish Sharma, impressed in the Ranking Points Only category with 618.1, finishing third overall but ineligible for a medal. The shooter from Fatehpur Shekhawati described the feat as the beginning of her global journey, crediting coach Monika Jakhar and her family for unwavering support.
India’s junior women’s prone team — Dhavalika, Prachi Gaikwad and Anushka Thokur — added further glory, clinching gold with 1835.6 points, narrowly ahead of Kazakhstan.
By championship’s end, India’s shooters had once again showcased their precision and depth, closing the competition with authority and a medal haul that reflected their growing dominance on the continental stage.
