Asian Shooting Championships: Team India bags silver, Manini Kaushik wins first medal in 50m prone

India’s Manini Kaushik secured her first individual international medal after claiming bronze in the women’s 50m rifle prone event at the Asian Shooting Championships on Friday. The 24-year-old from Jaipur, who also competes in 50m rifle 3 positions, shot a total of 617.8 to seal third place. South Korea’s Hana Im (620.2) won gold, while compatriot Eunseo Lee (620.2) took silver. Although Manini initially finished fifth, she moved into medal contention as South Korea’s Yelin Choi (620.1) and India’s Sift Kaur Samra (617.9) were competing in the ‘Ranking Points Only’ (RPO) category. Under this format, athletes participate only for ranking points and are not eligible for podium finishes. Manini’s series scores read 104.0, 103.8, 101.2, 103.3, 103.2 and 102.3 across six rounds of 10 shots each. Her performance also played a key role in India winning the team silver in the same event, which is not part of the Olympic programme. The Indian trio of Manini (617.8), Surabhi Bharadwaj (614.4) and Vinod Vidarsa (613.8) combined for 1846 points, finishing behind South Korea, who clinched gold with 1856.8. Kazakhstan settled for bronze with 1828.2. In the junior category, India’s Prachi Gaikwad added to the medal tally by taking silver in women’s 50m rifle prone. She scored 616.6, finishing behind South Korea’s Sehee Oh (618.6), while Kazakhstan’s Sofya Malkina (616.3) secured bronze. Prachi, alongside Anushka Thokur (607.6) and Tejal Nathawat (599.2), also helped India bag the team bronze with an aggregate of 1823.4. South Korea topped the podium with 1844 points, while Kazakhstan took silver at 1830.1. The strong showing from both senior and junior shooters highlighted India’s depth in the 50m rifle prone discipline at continental level.