Asian Games 2018: Rahi Sarnobat clinches gold in women's 25M Pistol event, Manu Bhaker disappoints

Jakarta, Aug 22: India's woman shooter Rahi Sarnobat clinched a Gold medal for India in the women's 25m pistol competition on Day 4 of the 18th Asian Games here on Wednesday (August 22) while Manu Bhaker finished sixth.

27-year-old Sarnobat maintained the lead from the very beginning and finally prevailed over her Thai opponent in the gold medal round at the Jakabaring International Shooting Range in Palembang.

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Sarnobat showed great composure in skills under pressure situation as she trailed in the final shots round but came back strongly to level the scores and forced the game to enter in a tie-break.

This is Munkhbayar Dorjsuren -⁩7 time olympian
2 time olympic https://t.co/NimsE79zky of ⁦@asiangames2018⁩ GOLD MEDAL WINNER Rahi Sarnobat. Physio Shloka(R). The women behind Rahi. Congrats Rahi. ⁦@OGQ_India⁩ is so proud to support u ⁦@OfficialNRAI⁩ ⁦ pic.twitter.com/Rx1vYMoLlE

— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) August 22, 2018

In the shoot-off for gold Rahi edged Yangpaiboon Naphaswan of Thailand to clinch gold in the nail-biting finish. This is India's fourth yellow metal with two from shooting.

Sarnobat had to battle a major elbow injury in 2016, but the veteran shooter overcame all odds and made a resounding comeback with her medal winning performance.

While entire nation's hopes were pinned on 16-year-old Manu, who topped the qualifying round with a Games record score of 593, Sarnobat left everyone behind in the finals. Rahi was seventh with 580 points in the qualifiers.

BULLSEYE!

After battling a major elbow injury in 2016, veteran shooter @SarnobatRahi makes a resounding comeback with her🥇medal winning performance in the 25m Pistol event at the #ASIANGAMES2018⁠.
Kudos to her for taking forward Indian shooting's successful run in Jakarta!🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/0UUQzxQ5ie

— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) August 22, 2018

Earlier in the qualifiers, Manu got 297 points in the three-series precision round, with scores of 99, 98 and 100 respectively. She scored 296 in the three-series rapid round, with scores of 100, 97 and 99 respectively.

Congratulations to Rahi Sarnobat on winning Gold Medal in women’s 25m pistol event at the #AsianGames2018 . Indian team, specially the shooting contingent is doing remarkably at the Games. India is proud of these sportspersons who are bringing laurels to the nation.

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 22, 2018

Manu's total of 593 was eight points ahead of the second best performer, South Korean Minjung Kim.

Thailand's Yangpaiboon Naphaswan, who shot 585.

16-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary won a gold for India in the 10m Air Pistol Men's event on Tuesday (August 21). The teenage sensation, a Grade XI student, won the yellow metal with a Games record of 240.7.