Asian Championship: Amanpreet shines as India complete clean sweep in 25m centre fire

New Delhi: India’s pistol stalwart Amanpreet Singh clinched the biggest medal of his career, striking gold in the 25m centre fire event as the country completed a clean sweep of the podium on the concluding day of the Asian Championship here on Friday.

The 38-year-old Amanpreet fired a stellar 589 to claim gold, edging out fellow countryman and Olympian Gurpreet Singh, who scored 584 for silver, while Ankur Goel secured bronze with 570, completing India’s sweep of the 25m centre fire podium.

The Indian trio dominated the team event as well, amassing a commanding 1743 points to clinch team gold, while Vietnam secured silver with a total of 1671 points.

India signed off in style, collecting seven medals on the final day to cap a dominant campaign. The team finished with an impressive overall tally of 33 medals in the senior rifle and pistol events -- 13 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze.

Ace Indian shooter Sift Kaur Samra too delivered a stirring performance in the women’s 50m rifle prone event, fighting till the very last shot to clinch a well-earned silver medal.

Adding to the country’s medal tally, seasoned campaigner Tejaswini Sawant displayed remarkable poise and precision to clinch the bronze, completing a memorable double podium finish for India, while Kazakhstan’s Yelizaveta Bezrukova soared to the gold with a commanding performance. Samra, 24, the ISSF World Cup and Asian Championship gold medallist in the 50m rifle 3-positions event last year, fired a superb 623.2 but missed out on gold by the narrowest of margins -- just 0.2 points -- as Kazakhstan’s Yelizaveta Bezrukova edged ahead with 623.4 in a gripping showdown.

Olympian Sawant, 45, a former world champion in the event, claimed bronze with 621.0.