Gold medalist at this year's CWG, Bhanwala disappoints at Asiad
A gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games, 15-year-old Indian shooter Anish Bhanwala produced a below-par performance to finish without a medal in the Men's 25m Rapid Fire Air Pistol event at the Asian Games. Bhanwala, who had made history by winning a gold at CWG in Gold Coast earlier this year, couldn't repeat yesterday's fine qualification performance on the second day of qualification.
Bhanwala eventually failed to qualify for the finals, finishing ninth overall with a score of 576. Another Indian in the fray, Shivam Shukla, suffered a washout and ended 11th with 569. Bhanwala, who is from Karnal, was in third spot after the qualification yesterday.
The competition has been a mixed bag for India's promising teenagers. Saurabh Chaudhary, 16, and Shardul Vihan, 15, brought laurels to the country with their sensational performances, winning gold and silver respectively. Manu Bhaker and Bhanwala, however, could not live up to the expectations after the Commonwealth Games high. Bhaker had competed in three events at the Games.
In men's 25m Rapid Fire Air Pistol, the top six qualified for the finals where China's Zhaonan Yao won gold with a Games Record score of 34. Silver also went to China with Junmin Lin shooting 33; bronze went to South Korea's Kim Junhong (29).
"I was under pressure yesterday but not today. I just shot badly. It can happen sometimes. I'm disappointed but need to move on," Bhanwala said. "There were expectations but like I said, in shooting it's all about how you perform on the day. I couldn't do it today and I'll try to do better at the World Championships (beginning on August 31)," Bhanwala added.
India has so far won nine shooting medals at the Games, including two pistol gold medals from Chaudhary and Rahi Sarnobat.
