Shillong, September 26: In the battle for bronze at the Asian Games shooting competitions in Hangzhou, India’s Ramita Thapar and Divyansh Panwar faced a heartbreaking defeat to the Republic of Korea.
As per IANS, the Korean pair of Hajun Park and Eunseo Lee made a remarkable comeback, clinching third place with a 20-18 victory at the 10m shooting range at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre.
Despite initially holding an 8-0 lead, the Indian duo couldn’t maintain their advantage as the Koreans gradually closed the gap, eventually tying the score at 15-15. The contest remained neck and neck until 18-18 when the Koreans secured a crucial two-point win in the two-shot series, ending India’s hopes of a bronze medal.
Ramita Thapar, a 19-year-old competing in only her second senior-level event, displayed outstanding shooting skills with all 10+ scores. However, two below-par shots by Divyansh Panwar, scoring 9.9 and 9.8, dashed their medal aspirations in the Asian Games shooting competitions.
Despite this disappointment, Ramita had already won two medals in the competition – a silver in the women’s 10m Air Rifle Team event and a bronze in the 10m Air Rifle Individual event. Meanwhile, Divyansh Panwar had contributed to the Men’s team’s historic gold medal win in the 10m Air Rifle Team event.
In the final of the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event, the Chinese pair of Yuting Huang and Lihao Sheng claimed the gold medal by defeating Uzbekistan’s Mukhtasar Tokhirova and Javokhir Sokhirov. Kazakhstan secured the other bronze medal by beating Iran.