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Missing Asiad Opening Ceremony was worth the sacrifice for our shooters

Updated on: 20 August,2018 07:56 AM IST  |  Jakarta
Ashwin Ferro | ashwin.ferro@mid-day.com

Bronze medal-winning rifle mixed team pair of Chandela and Kumar are no more disappointed over missing out on Saturday's opening ceremony

Missing Asiad Opening Ceremony was worth the sacrifice for our shooters

Indian shooters Ravi Kumar (right) and Apurvi Chandela celebrate after winning the bronze medal in the 10m air rifle mix team event final at the Asian Games in Jakarta yesterday. Pic/PTI

On Saturday night, some members of India's shooting contingent were quite disappointed that they could not be part of the glittering opening ceremony of the Asian Games here since they were camped in faraway Palembang. "Some youngsters and first-time Asian Games participants in the shooting team were quite sad last evening. Being a part of the athletes' march is a very proud moment, but unfortunately we had to give it a miss. We even thought of taking a flight but realised that the journey might not work out since our events were slated in the morning. The shooters would have got tired too," said an official accompanying the contingent.


Good rest pays off
Yesterday though, it was evident just how that extra rest helped as Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar shot a bronze medal-winning performance in the 10m air rifle mixed team event with a score of 429.9 points. Chinese Taipei took the gold with a score of 494.1, an Asian Games record, while China's 492.5 was enough to earn them the silver medal. Moments after the win Chandela told PTI that the win is an improvement for the pair.


"Our best finish together was fourth at the World Cup and we have improved on that. This is my first Asian Games medal and my first medal for India here, so I am really happy." Ravi credited Chandela for the bronze. "This bronze has come only because of Apurvi. The final was a disappointment after a decent qualification," he said. Chandela meanwhile returned the favour: "He shot really well in the qualification round as well. This is a joint effort which we are very happy with."


The pair qualified for the final in second place, scoring 835.3 points, behind South Korea's 836.7. However, they fell a spot in the summit battle. Both Chandela and Ravi however, don't have time to celebrate their Asiad honours just yet because they could well better this show within the next 24 hours.

Another big event
"Both me and Ravi have our main events tomorrow – the 10m air rifle – so we have to quickly shift all our focus. It will be great if I can continue doing well for my country tomorrow as well. We will give our best again," she added.

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