Sift dominates the 50m rifle 3 positions, clinching double gold in individual and team events at the Asian Shooting Championships in Shymkent
Shymkent
India’s Sift Kaur Samra shone brightly at the Asian Shooting Championships on Tuesday, clinching the gold medal in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions individual event as well as leading India to gold in the team category.
Sift delivered a stellar performance in the final, scoring 459.2 to take the top spot. China’s Yujie Yang (458.8) secured silver, while Japan’s Misaki Nobata claimed bronze with 448.2. Another Indian finalist, Ashi Chouksey, finished seventh with a score of 402.8. Interestingly, both Sift and Ashi were placed second and fifth in qualification but entered the final as first and fourth, respectively, after compatriot Shriyanka Sadandi, who had topped the qualification round, competed only in the Ranking Points Only (RPO) category.
Sift’s brilliance extended to the team event, where she joined Ashi Chouksey and Anjum Moudgil to secure gold with a combined score of 1753 points. Sift shot 589, while Ashi and Anjum added 586 and 578, respectively. Japan (1750) and South Korea (1745) took the silver and bronze medals.
India added more glory as Neeru Dhanda won gold in the women’s trap individual event and teamed up with Aashima Ahlawat and Preeti Rajak for the team gold. Bhowneesh Mendiratta narrowly missed the men’s trap title, settling for silver after scoring 45, just two points behind China’s Qi Ying.
India’s medal tally at Shymkent now stands at 19 medals — nine gold, three silver, and seven bronze — in senior events. With 35 senior shooters and 129 juniors competing across 15 events, India remains at the top of the standings with 31 gold, 11 silver, and 14 bronze medals overall.
