Kapil Bainsla Wins India’s First Gold at Asian Shooting Championship in Kazakhstan

Shymkent (Kazakhstan), August 19 – India’s Kapil Bainsla delivered a brilliant performance to secure the country’s first gold medal at the 16th Asian Shooting Championship for Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun events in Shymkent. Representing Haryana, the young shooter triumphed in the men’s 10m air pistol junior final with a score of 243.0, edging out Uzbekistan’s Ilkhombek Obidjonov by 0.6 points. Karnataka’s Jonathan Gavin Anthony clinched the bronze with 220.7 points.

The final was closely contested, with Obidjonov taking an early lead. Bainsla kept close behind and overtook him after the 15th shot, though the Uzbek shooter regained the lead after the 20th shot and was one point ahead going into the last two attempts. In the decisive moments, Bainsla scored 10.8 and 10.6, while Obidjonov faltered with 10.4 and 9.4, allowing the Indian to seal victory.

As per agency report, three Indian shooters reached the final. In qualification, Bainsla had finished fourth with 579 points, Jonathan was second with 582, and Mukesh Nelavli was third, while Korea’s Kim Dooyon topped the round with 582.

In the team event, Bainsla and Jonathan joined forces with Vijay Tomar to win silver, posting a combined score of 1723. Korea claimed gold with 1734, and hosts Kazakhstan took bronze.

In the senior men’s category, India’s only finalist Anmol Jain finished sixth with 155.1 points. China’s Hu Kai won gold in both the individual final and the team event. Jain, along with Aditya Malra and Saurabh Chaudhary, secured silver in the team event with a total of 1735 points.

The championship will continue on Tuesday with the women’s and junior women’s 10m air pistol finals, where Indian shooters are expected to be strong contenders.