NAGOYA: Three days ago, one dominant subject of conversation was the typhoon. September 21 was a dreaded word and of course, a day too. Words like deluge, destruction, floods were used endlessly. Most of the conversations with Olympic Council of Asia officials and the organizers were about how to save Nagoya. As people braced up for the D-day, the typhoon slowly veered off its target quite miraculously. Providence? Or freaky weather?
Monday started with light rain and overcast conditions but the strong winds stayed away. It was pleasant but warnings remained. Flood or deluge, one place that could not have been affected were the Toyota highlands. And those three Indian shooters who lined up in the qualification hall for the 10m men’s air rifle.
Rudrankksh Patil, Himanshu Dhillon and Parth Mane ensured India won silver, the first medal of the day. Patil is no stranger to an Asian Games medal. He had won gold last time in Hangzhou but with two different shooters – Divyansh Singh Panwar and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar. Such is the depth in Indian shooting. A little lax and a slight slip, the shooter is out of the team.
The competition is intense, so is the pressure. There have been instances when players just couldn’t handle pressure and dropped out after winning world championships medals. The team here too is a testament to shooting depth and standards set in the country. Two of the Paris Olympic medalists – Sarobjit Singh and Swapnil Kushale did not make it to the team. Aishwary is in the 50m 3 position team.
One Monday, Rudrankksh seemed relaxed and knew where he would finish. The shots were on target and in the end he scored a creditable 631.8 points. His younger teammates Dhillon and Mane too looked comfortable. Dhillon’s effort of 630 ensured him a place in the final along with Rudransh. Mane finished in the 11th spot with 628.3 points for a total of 1890.1.
Once again, China stormed to the first spot with a world record combined score of 1899.0. Changhong Zhang (630.6), Ma Sihan (633) and Sheng Lihoa were the shooters. In fact, Lihao shot 635.4 which is also an Asian record. Though Zhang has qualified for the final on score, because of two-player restriction per country he could not stand in the final.
More to follow...