The Indian duo of Saurabh Chaudhary and Suruchi Inder Singh clinched the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze medal at the Asian Shooting Championships in Shymkent, Kazakhstan on Wednesday. The pair defeated Chinese Taipei’s Liu Heng-Yu and Hsieh Hsiang-Chen with a commanding 17-9 scoreline in the bronze-medal match. This victory comes a day after Manu Bhaker won an individual bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event.

Chaudhary and Suruchi qualified for the medal round in fifth place, with Suruchi scoring 292 and Saurabh shooting 286, for a combined total of 578 points. Six teams made it to the medal matches. China and South Korea fought for the gold medal, with China winning 16-12, while India and Iran claimed the two bronze medals.

In the bronze medal contest, where the first team to reach 16 points wins, Suruchi’s exceptional consistency played a major role. She recorded seven perfect 10s, six of them above 10.4, securing India’s triumph. Suruchi began the qualification with a perfect 100, followed by 94 and 98 in the subsequent series, while Chaudhary shot 95, 96, and 95 in his three series.

Junior Event Success

India also tasted success in the junior category, where Vanshika Chaudhary and Gavin Anthony won the junior 10m air pistol mixed team bronze medal, edging past South Korea’s Kim Yejin and Kim Dooyeon 16-14. The Indian pair finished second in qualification with an aggregate score of 578, Vanshika scoring 282 and Gavin 296.