Asian Games 2018 Review: China dominates Shooting; India clinches 2 gold medals

Shooting has been a part of every edition of the Asian Games. China leads the overall medal tally having claimed 197 Golds, 120 Silvers and 78 Bronze for a total of 395 medals. They are followed by South Korea with 63 Golds, 90 Silvers and 90 Bronze for a total of 243 and Japan with 54 Golds, 43 Silvers and 54 Bronze for a total of 151. India occupies the 8th position with 7 Golds, 17 Silvers and 25 Bronze for a total of 49 medals.

Here's a look at how the shooting events went at the recently-concluded Asiad in Jakarta:

10m Air Rifle Men

The reigning World and Asian Games Champion, Yang of China produced a new Games record on his way to the Gold medal in the 10m air rifle competition. China has won the Gold in this event continuously from the 1994 edition. As expected, the top 4 ranked shooters occupied the top 4 places in the finals with the favourite Ravi Kumar taking the 4th spot.

At the end of the compulsory first 2 series in the finals, Yang went into the lead with a difference of 0.6 with Lu Shao in second place and he maintained the lead till the end to take the Gold. Lu Shao-Chen of Taipei, who was in the second position till the 7th series, lost it to Deepak who hit a 10.7 to move into second.

Finals: Gold - Yang Haoran (11) (CHN) 249.1 (GR) (Previous - Yang Haoran (CHN) 209.6 Incheon 2014), Silver - Deepak Kumar (13) (IND) 247.7, Bronze - Lu Shao-Chuan (8) (TPE) 226.8. 4th Place - Ravi Kumar (5) (IND) 205.2.

50m Rifle 3 Positions Men

Sanjeev Rajput claimed the Silver for India in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions

Yang Haoran was expected to win the Gold with a World ranking of 4 but had to finish in 4th place due to exemplary shooting from his compatriot Zicheng, who took the Gold, Sheoran of India, who is ranked 5th in the world, missed the finals by 1 point to finish in 11th spot.

At the end of the Kneeling position, World No. 32 Yurkov of Kazakhstan led the field with a score of 152.7. After the completion of the Prone position, World No. 12 Rajput of India took the lead with 307.1 pts.

After the first 2 series of shooting in the Standing position, Rajput maintained a lead of 0.3 over the Chinese duo. There were 5 shots remaining to determine the Gold when Rajput squandered by shooting an 8.4, which moved him to the third place. Zicheng capitalized on this opportunity to take the Gold while Yang, who was the pre-event favourite, shot an 8.8 to finish 4th.

Finals: Gold - Hui Zicheng (48) (CHN), Silver - Sanjeev Rajput (12) (IND), Bronze - Takayuki Matsumoto (38) (JPN), 11th Place - Akhil Sheoran (5) (IND) 1158.

300m Standard Rifle Men

Indian competitors were unable to get a medal in the 300m Rifle event as Korea's Choi produced a Games record to take the Gold.

Finals: Gold - Choi Young-Jeon (KOR) 569 (GR), Silver - Hussain Ghuwayli Al-Harbi (KSA) 568, Bronze - Lee Won-Gyu (KOR 563). 4th Place - Harjinder Singh 560, 5th Place - Amit Kumar 559.

10m Air Pistol Men

Tomoyuki Matsuda of Japan settled for Silver with an 8.9 shot in his penultimate round

Indian shooters Saurabh and Abhishek came good to take Gold and Bronze respectively amidst a competitive field which included Wu Jiayu, who is ranked 5th in the world and Wang ranked 8th, and Matsuda of Japan who is 6th in the world.

Abhishek had a poor 6th series and settled for Bronze. Matsuda of Japan dominated the field at the start by leading until the final two shots. In the penultimate shot, the Japanese shot a paltry 8.9 to lose the Gold to a more consistent 16-year-old Saurabh.

Olympic champion Hoang Xuan Vinh from Vietnam missed out on a place in the final as he finished 9th in the qualification.

Finals: Gold - Saurabh Chaudhary (IND) 240.7 (GR), Silver - Tomoyuki Matsuda (6) (JPN) 239.7, Bronze - Abhishek Verma (IND) 219.3.

25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men

The world no. 1 Liu Junmin had to settle for the Silver as his compatriot Yao, ranked 7th in the world, came up with a Games record performance to take the Gold.

Finals: Gold - Yao Zhaonan (7) (CHN) 34 (GR), Silver - Lin Junmin (1) (CHN) 33, Bronze - Kim Jun-Hong (6) (KOR) 29. 9th Place - Anish (19) (IND) 576, 11th Place - Shivam Shukla (IND) 569.

Trap Men

The Trap competition was so intense that World no. 6 Lu Du of China did not qualify for the finals as he finished in the 10th position. 19-year-old Sheoran of India had nerves of steel as he managed to win the Silver. Yang Kun-Pi was in terrific form as he equalled the World record, missing just two birds in the finals.

Finals: Gold - Yang Kun-Pi (72) (TPE) 48 (EWR) (Alberto Fernández (ESP) 48 - 2017, New Delhi.), Silver - Lakshay Sheoran (IND) 43, Bronze - Ahn Dae-Myeong (KOR) 30. 4th Place - Manavjit Singh Sandhu (57) (IND) 26.

Double Trap Men

15-yr-old Shardul Vihan displayed amazing composure to pocket the Silver in the Double trap event. He ran the Korean close, who held on to the lead to missing just one bird in the finals. Pre-event favourite Ankur Mittal of India failed to qualify for the finals as he finished in 9th place.

Finals: Gold - Shin Hyun-Woo (KOR) 74, Silver - Shardul Vihan (IND) 73, Bronze - Hamad Ali Al-Marri (QAT) 53. 9th Place - Ankur Mittal (IND) 134.

Skeet Men

Jin Di of China took the Silver in Skeet

Mansour of Kuwait had the Gold in his sights before he missed his penultimate shot which put him on level terms with Jin Di of China. Both men showed tremendous accuracy as they smashed the Games record in the event. In the deciding shoot-off, Jin Di missed his 4th bird which gave Mansour the Gold. The world no. 2 and pre-event favourite, Lee Jongjun of Korea finished in 19th place.

Finals: Gold - Mansour Al-Rashidi (22) (KUW) 52 (GR) (S-off 4), Silver - Jin Di (37) (CHN) 52 (GR) (S-off 3), Bronze - Saif Al-Mansoori (UAE) 43. 13th Place - Sheeraz Sheikh (60) (IND) 120, 14th Place - Angad Vir Singh Bajwa (58) (IND) 119.

10m Running Target Men

Finals: Gold - Jeong You-Jin (KOR) 6, Silver - Pak Myong-Won (PRK) 4, Bronze - Ngo Huu Vuong (VIE) 6.

10m Running Target Mixed Men

Finals: Gold - Pak Myong-Won (PRK) 384, Silver - Muhammad Sejahtera Dwi Putra (INA) 380, Bronze - Gan Yu (CHN) 379.

10m Air Rifle Women

Apurvi Chandela of India finished in 5th place in 10m Air Rifle

Wu Migyang of China, the current World no. 1, finished in the 11th spot as did World no. 10 Shimizu of Japan, who finished in the 16th place. Lin Ying of Taipei who is ranked 2nd in the World did enter the finals but finished in the 8th spot. World no. 7 Apurvi Chandela of India finished in 5th. However World no. 3 Zhao of China produced a new Games record to take the Gold.

Finals: Gold - Zhao Ruozhu (3) (CHN) 250.9 (GR), Silver - Jung Eun-Hea (16) (KOR) 248.6, Bronze - Gankhuyagiin Nandinzayaa (53) (MGL) 227.4. 5th Place - Apurvi Chandela (7) (IND) 186. 14th Place - Elavenil Valarivan (IND) 620.8.

50m Rifle 3 Positions Women

It was the turn of the underdogs to take the medals in the 50m rifle 3 positions as World no. 41 Nandinzayaa of Mongolia came up with a Games record performance to take the Gold. The World no. 2 Wang Zeru of China finished in the 18th spot, Binbin Zhang of China, who is ranked 3rd in the world, finished in the 13th position, and World no. 6 Ahmadi of Iran finished 7th.

Finals: Gold - Gankhuyagiin Nandinzayaa (41) (MGL) 458.8 (GR), Silver - Chuluunbadrakhyn Narantuyaa (75) (MGL) 451.4, Bronze - Mahlagha Jambozorg (55) (IRN) 441.2. 9th Place - Anjum Moudgil (7) (IND) 1159. 17th Place - Gaayathri Nithyanandam (21) (IND) 1148.

10m Air Pistol Women

Heena Sidhu of India claims Bronze in the 1148.10m Air Pistol

The current World no. 3 Ji Xiaojing of China finished in the 13th spot as her compatriot and World no. 7 Wang Qian shot a Games record to take the Gold. India's 16-year-old shooting sensation and World no. 9 Manu Bhaker finished in the 5th spot.

Wang Qian led from the start and was on level terms with Kim of Korea after the 8th series. But a poor 7.9 in the final shot from Kim handed the Gold to Wang. Heena Sidhu held her nerve as the Iranian had a poor 5.3 in her final shot to lose the Bronze.

Finals: Gold - Wang Qian (7) (CHN) 240.3 (GR), Silver - Kim Min-Jung (14) (KOR) 237.6, Bronze - Heena Sidhu (33) (IND) 219.2. 5th Place - Manu Bhaker (9) (IND) 176.2.

25m Pistol Women

Rahi Sarnobat of India won Gold in 25m Pistol

Yao Yushi of China, who is ranked no. 2 in the world, was unable to qualify for the finals and finished in 12th position. Lin Yumei of China, ranked 8th in the world, had to settle for the 4th position.

Manu Bhaker had a poor 5th and 6th series, which put paid to her hopes of winning a medal as she finished 6th. Kim took the Bronze ahead of Lin from China with a superior qualification score.

Rahi, who was leading from the start, had a poor series of shots in rounds 8, 9, 10 as she only shot 6 out of 15 targets. The Thai girl herself had a poor 8th series shooting 2/5, but shot 5/5 in the 9th and then ended with a mind-blowing 0/5 in the 10th series to tie the scores. The game went into the shoot-off and both scored 4 in the first series, and in the second series. Rahi scored 3 to take the Gold as Naphaswan scored 2 to settle for Silver.

Finals: Gold - Rahi Sarnobat (15) (IND) 34 (GR) (S-off 3), Silver - Naphaswan Yangpaiboon (17) (THA) 34 (GR) (S-off 2), Bronze - Kim Min-Jung (23) (KOR) 29. 6th Place - Manu Bhaker (27) (IND) 16.

Trap Women

Kang Gee-Eun of Korea took the Silver in Trap Women

Zhang of China equalled the Asian record on her way to taking the Gold in the Trap event. Kang of Korea was breathing down her neck, but she missed her last shot to push the match to a shoot-off and settled for Silver. Lebanon took the Bronze.

Seema Tomar started poorly, missing the first 6 birds and she instantly knew it would be hard for her to survive and come back. She eventually became the first person to be eliminated from the finals.

Finals: Gold - Zhang Xinqiu (35) (CHN) 45 (=AR), Silver - Kang Gee-Eun (43) (KOR) 44 (GR), Bronze - Ray Bassil (30) (LBN) 34. 6th Place - Seema Tomar (41) (IND) 12. 7th Place - Shreyasi Singh (47) (IND) 116.

Double Trap Women

Li Qingnian of China took Gold in Double Trap

Yiting Bai's poor 4th series of 24 birds laid to rest her hopes of clinching the Gold as her compatriot Qingnian created an Asian record to claim the Gold. Kazakh's Mariya took the Bronze.

Finals: Gold - Li Qingnian (CHN) 136 (AR), Silver - Bai Yiting (CHN) 134, Bronze - Mariya Dmitriyenko (KAZ) 125. 6th Place - Shreyasi Singh (IND) 121. 7th Place - Varsha Varman (IND) 120.

Skeet Women

Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit of Thailand won Gold in Skeet

Donglian Zhang of China, ranked 7th in the world, had to settle for a 5th place finish at the Asian Games. World No. 9 Kim Minji of Korea took the Bronze. Thailand's Sutiya equalled the Asian record to clinch the Gold from the World no. 11 Wei Meng of China.

Finals: Gold - Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit (36) (THA) 55 (=AR), Silver - Wei Meng (11) (CHN) 54 (GR), Bronze - Kim Min-Ji (9) (KOR) 42. 10th Place - Ganemat Sekhon (71) (IND) 112. 12th Place - Rashmi Rathore (53) (IND) 111.

10m Air Rifle Mixed Team

Finals: Gold - Chinese Taipei (Lin Ying-Shin, Lu Shao-Chuan) 494.1 (GR), Silver - China (Yang Haoran, Zhao Ruozhu) 492.5, Bronze - India 429.9 (Apurvi Chandela, Ravi Kumar).

10m Air Pistol Mixed Team

Finals: Gold - China (Ji Xiaojing, Wu Jiayu) 473.2 (GR), Silver - Korea (Kim Min-Jung, Lee Dae-Myung) 467.6, Bronze - Vietnam (Le Thi Linh Chi, Tran Quoc Cuong) 407.5, 6th Place - India 759 (Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma).

Trap Mixed Team

Finals: Gold - Lebanon (Ray Bassil, Alain Moussa) 43 (AR), Silver - Chinese Taipei (Lin Yi-Chun, Yang Kun-Pi) 42, Bronze - China (Du Yu, Wang Xiaojing) 31, 6th Place - India (Shreyasi Singh, Lakshay Sheoran) 16.

China finished as the top nation in Shooting at the 2018 Asian Games, having won 8 Golds, 5 Silvers, and 2 Bronze. South Korea was second with 3 Golds, 4 Silvers, and 5 Bronze. India occupied the third spot with 2 Golds, 4 Silvers, and 3 Bronze.