In an event where India’s Saurabh Chaudhary owns the Asian Games record, Indian shooters faltered to finish fourth and eight respectively but not before combining to add yet another team gold, this time in the 10m air pistol, from the ranges to the country’s medal tally.
Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Singh Cheema and Shiva Narwal combined to score 1734 points to finish on top, just one point ahead of host China and four away from third-placed Vietnam. Like in several other events, it was a brilliant fightback from the Indians, who all required a series of 10s on their final shots to keep China at bay and they managed to come up with the goods. That all three were placed low down the order with scores of 92 and 95 for Narwal and Sarabjot respectively in the opening round only made the comeback more special.
“It is an unexpected gold, to be very honest. But it is my first Asian Games so getting a medal, that to gold, is very special. We are like brothers, competitive on the range and close out of it so doing this with them feels really nice,” Sarabjot said. The 21-year old from Chandigarh, who also finished 4th in the individual event – he was one of two Indians in the individual final, along with Cheema – admitted he was disappointed with the individual performance but for someone shooting at less than 100 percent fitness, it was a creditable outing.
“I am not satisfied with the fourth position but I will work on my process. I have an impingement injury in my right shoulder, which is my shooting hand, that I got while shooting in February. I need rehab and gym workout but it’s not serious, the doctor has said it will be fixed by the competition, which will be the Asian Shooting Championships (October),” he added.
Chaudhary shot 240.7 in Jakarta five years back for the Games record while Vietnam’s Quang Huy Pham took gold with 240.5 points. Sarabjot shot 199.
Agarwalla adds bronze to his name
Anush Agarwalla continued his winning form in equestrian, adding an individual bronze in the Dressage event to the team gold a day earlier. Riding astride Etro, Agarwalla totalled 73.030 points – 69.900 for technical and 76.160 for the artistic section -- to finish third. Teammate Hriday Chheda, however, was eliminated after blood was spotted on his horse Chemxpro’s leg.
Anush Agarwalla reacts after winning the bronze medal in the Equestrian Dressage Individual Final event at the Hangzhou Asian Games on September 28, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI
“The feeling is unreal. I still don’t believe I have won the bronze even after winning the team gold. I knew I had a good partnership with my horse and I knew knew it would be a good day when I got up in the morning. I just felt good about it, I even texted my mother that we will get something. My horse has been amazing all through, it’s been a long and often difficult journey but holding this medal today, I feel it was all worth it,” Agarwalla said after the event.
Having got Etro only in February, Anush revealed that it had not been easy to build the comfort level so quickly. “I’ve never ridden stallions or young horses before. He’s a nine-year-old stallion so it’s been quite a difficult task with lots of ups and downs. But I’m super-happy with how he behaved today. Even the last few days, he was amazing. He landed in China and he knew it was game time,” he beamed.
A bronze had looked likely even before the competition was over with Agarwalla placed comfortably at the end of his routine. That he was the penultimate rider to go was an advantage as he knew exactly how much he needed and not worry about too many competitors bar one. Japan’s Ryunosuke Kuroda, who went after him, finished 4th.
“When the last rider went, I knew I was third. But the last rider is a very strong competitor so those 6-7 minutes were very difficult for me, they felt like 6-7 years, to be honest. I could not breathe at that time, I was very nervous – perhaps more than at any point of time in the last few weeks. It was a great, tough battle that I will remember for a long, long time,” Agarwalla revealed.
