Updated on: Aug 18, 2025 10:21 pm IST
India’s Kapil Bainsla clinched gold in the junior 10m air pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championship, with a total of two gold and four silver medals won.
New Delhi: India’s Kapil Bainsla held his nerve to beat Uzbekistan’s Ilkhombek Obidjonov in a thrilling contest and clinched gold in the 10m air pistol junior event on the opening day of the 16th Asian Shooting Championship in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. National Games champion Jonathan Gavin Antony secured bronze in the same event.
However, India could not win a medal in the senior event. In the men’s 10m air pistol final, Anmol Jain was the only Indian to qualify but he finished sixth with 155.1 points. China’s Hu Kai (241.6) won gold while Suhyeon Hong of Korea (239) won silver and Iran’s Amir Joharikhou bronze.
Though two Indians finished inside the top-8 in qualification — both qualifier topper Amit Sharma (588-24X) and Paris Olympian Varun Tomar (585), they were competing for ranking points only (RPO). India did secure a silver in the men’s team event as Anmol (580), Aditya Malra (579) and Saurabh Chaudhary (576) combined for a tally of 1735, finishing behind China.
In the junior final, Kapil staged a strong fightback to finish with 243.0 points. Ilkhombek, who led for most of the 24-shot match, ended 0.6 behind to win silver, while Jonathan took bronze with 220.7. Kapil, who hails from Palwal, Haryana, had shot 579 to place fourth in qualification.
In the final, Ilkhombek started well and led after the first two series of 10 shots but Kapil reduced the gap as the match progressed putting the Uzbek under pressure. The Indian took a slender lead after the 16th shot. However Ilkhombek fought back and had a one point lead (222.6 to 221.6) after the 22nd shot. In the last two crucial shots, Kapil soaked the pressure and fired 10.8 and 10.6. The Uzbek wilted, and his final two shots were 10.4 and 9.4.
The junior men’s team of Kapil, Gavin (582) and Vijay Tomar (562) also won silver with a combined tally of 1723 points behind Korea (1734 pts).
Later, Girish Gupta won gold in 10m air pistol youth event with compatriot Dev Pratap making it a 1-2 for India. The 17-year-old shot 241.3 in the final to finish ahead of 14-year-old Dev who shot 238.6. he team of Girish, Pankaj Jat, and Dev Pratap won silver behind Iran.Overall, India won two gold four silver and one bronze medals on the opening day.
