Asian Games 2023: Palak Gulia wins gold in women’s 10m air pistol, compatriot Esha Singh bags silver

In a blockbuster morning for India on day six of the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, young Indian shooters Palak Gulia and Esha Singh shone in the women’s 10m air pistol individual event, winning gold and silver medals, respectively.

Palak, all of 17, took up shooting after the Jakarta Asiad. She left everyone in awe with her calm and composed approach, jumping straight to the top of the board during the final eight on Friday (Sep 29) morning.

She broke an Asian Games record in her quest to bag an individual gold medal, securing 242.1 points.

Another Indian, Esha Singh, stood second on the standings with 239.7 points, 2.6 points behind the winner, with Pakistan's Kishmala Talat winning the bronze medal, recording 218.2 points.

Esha’s silver medal increased her medal tally to four at the ongoing Asian Games, having won a silver medal in 10m air pistol, gold in 25m pistol and an individual silver in 25m pistol before.

Earlier in the day, the duo, alongside TS Divya won the silver medal in the women’s 10m air pistol team event, with 1731 points.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the women's team on the win.

Indian men’s team shine in shooting

While the women shooters were making headlines on Friday morning, the men’s team in the rifle 3P event also clinched the gold medal, putting India’s shooting contingent on top. The trio of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale and Akhil Sheoran had the last laugh, claiming the top spot with a world record.

They recorded 1769 points, eight more than the previous record set by the United States in 2022 at the CAT championships.

Outside of the men’s and women’s shooting teams hogging all spotlight for their impressive show, the Indian Tennis duo of Saketh and Ramkumar fought for their dream of winning the gold in the Tennis men’s doubles event but fell short. The Indian pair lost to Chinese Taipei pair Jason and Hsu in straight sets (6-4, 6-4), settling for the silver medal.

On the other hand, the Indian women’s team won the bronze medal in squash as Hong Kong beat India 3-0.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE