Indian rifle shooter Sift Kaur Samra scripted her name in history as she shattered every record that came on her way to clinch the gold medal for India in the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China. Samra became the first individual, who bagged the gold and Unflured the tricolor in the women’s 50m rifle 3 position event on Day 4. This is India’s fifth overall gold in the Asian Games. The four gold medals so far have come from different team events in shooting, women’s cricket, and equestrian. Another Indian, Ashi Chouksey, won bronze in the same event, taking India’s medal tally to 18 in Hangzhou.
Smara creates world record
Sift broke the world record and, needless to say, the Asian record and the game record for showtimes. After 15 shots, the 22-year-old finished on his knees, lying and standing with a total score of 469.6. She shattered the previous world record of Seonaid McIntosh when she scored 2.6.
GOLD FOR 🇮🇳 WITH A WORLD RECORD!
Huge applause for Sift Samra Kaur, who has secured 🇮🇳's 1st Individual Gold🥇at the #AsianGames2022 👏@SiftSamra's Gold in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Position event was achieved through unbelievable and surreal shooting, displaying incredible… pic.twitter.com/M1Sg1aB9e6
— Anurag Thakur (मोदी का परिवार) (@ianuragthakur) September 27, 2023
Ashi bags bronze
To put Shift’s performance in Wednesday’s event into perspective, silver medalist Qiongyue Zhang of China achieved a total of 462.3 points, which is 7.3 points lower than India’s top shooter. However, she was able to change the color of the medal on the final stroke when India’s Ashi failed with a disastrous standing performance of 8.9 points and lost second place. China only needed 9.9 points to erase a 1.2 point lead and win the silver medal. Ashi was content with a bronze medal with a total of 451.9 points.
Samra’s performance in qualification round
Before clinching the gold in the final, Samra showcased her talent in the qualification round, where she broke the Asiad records with a total of 594 (out of a total 600) with China’s Xia Siyu, who moved 10 points closer to the top spot. Chouksey had a total of 590 and finished sixth. However, Manini Kaushik was ranked 18th with a score of 580.
Inspiration for generation
Samra clinching gold and breaking the world record will create the buzz for shooting in India and will inspire the young generation to pursue the game and participate at the competitive level.
