Ayonika shoots bronze in Asian Air Gun C'ship

Jatin Verma n

Indian shooter Ayonika Paul added one more medal in her pocket after clinching bronze medal in the 10m Air Rifle event on the second day of the 8th Asian Air Gun Championship here on Monday.

Xiang Wei Jasmine Ser of Singapore shot 208.1 points to win the gold medal and Elaheh Ahmadi shot 206.6 points to grab the silver medal. 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist who shot 185.0 points in the final round had shot413.6 points in the qualifying round and was placed at 5th position among 14 other competitors from countries like Iran, Singapore, Korea.

The qualifying round was led by Elaheh Ahmadi of Iran with 419.3 points with Apurvi Chandela of India coming in second with 415.0 and Mahlagha Jambozorg of Iran at third position. Out of total 15 competitors, only eight qualified for the final round including three from India, three from Iran and one each from Singapore and Korea.

Ayonika started on a positive note shooting 10.3, 10.5, and 10.7 in her first round and continued her excellent form. She also shot 10.9 twice in the third and fifth round and was looking good to win the silver medal despite a good competition from Xiang of Singapore but the Indian shooter wobbled during final few minutes of game when she scored a disappointing 9.6 and 9.0 which took away the hopes of winning the silver medal from her.

Speaking about how she felt during that moment and the amount of the pressure she felt, the 23-year old said, “The pressure was there from the beginning when you see so many good shooters competing against you. Yes, but I hope my last two shots could have been better. I just wanted to win and this is what I was preparing for over the last few years. I was actually preparing for a better medal, you can say but it was not my day after all. I had made some changes in my technique. I and Suma didi are working very hard on each and every minute detail. Things were not good during the qualification round, so I made some changes and it did work out. 

The final included some of the best shooters, and Ayonika feels that it’s good for her to get some more exposure and practice. “I now feel I belong in the same level as they all are.” she further added. Ayonika will now be travelling to Kuwait to participate in the Asian Championship which will be held in November 2015.

Apurvi Chandela who won the gold medal at the same event during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, had a disappointing day at the field of play as she finished eight with score of just 81.3 points whereas on the other hand, last time winner Pooja Ghatkar finished  fifth with a total score of 143.3 points. Chandela who has already secured her quota for next year’s Rio Olympics was disappointed with her performance.

Speaking to media after the event, a sad and disappointed Chandela said, “I am a bit disappointed from myself and my performance for sure but I could have done better but there is nothing you can do now.”

Earlier, India bagged the team silver in women’s 10m air rifle event with total of 1241.4 points coming behind after Iran who shot 1247.7 to grab the gold medal.

In the 10m Air Rifle event, Women youth category, Aashi Rastogi secured the gold medal shooting 205.7 points with Prachi managing to hold on to bronze shooting 183.6 points. In women junior category, Najmeh Khedmati of Iran shot 208.9 and broke the World Record but sadly for her record cannot be counted officially as the rules suggest that there should be minimum 10 participants in the event for the record to become official. Shriyanka Sadangi of India took home bronze medal shooting 185.4 points.