(From L to R) Silver medallist India’s Abhishek Verma, gold medalist India’s Saurabh Chaudhary and bronze medallist Japan’s Matsuda Tomoyuki pose for pictures before their victory ceremony for the 10m air pistol men shooting final during the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang on August 21, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Mohd RASFAN
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Saurabh Chaudhary has an Asian Games gold medal at the age of 16 after winning the men’s 10-meter air pistol title on debut in senior competition at Palembang.
Chaudhary, who only took up the sport competitively three years ago and set a junior world record earlier this year, won with a games record of 240.7 in the 24-shot final. Japan collected silver via 42-year-old ex-world champion Tomoyuki Matsuda, who was a point behind.
Abhishek Verma joined India teammate Chaudhary on the podium after finishing in third place.
He showed composure against a seasoned field that also included South Korean Jin Jin-goh, who won Olympic gold medals at Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro and is a multiple world champion but placed fifth in Palembang.
With so much experience in the field, Chaudhary kept his expectations in check, telling Press Trust of India “I did not feel any pressure.”
Praise from home flowed in quickly after Chaudhary picked up India’s third gold medal of the games, from high-profile athletes and public figures. In a post on an official Twitter account, India’s President Ram Nath Kovind posted: “Our shooters are bang on target! We are proud of you!”
In other early finals, Macau picked up its first medal — a gold — when Huang Jun-hua held of Vietnam’s Quoc Khanh Pham in the wushu discipline of Nangun.
The combined Koreas women’s basketball team reached the quarterfinals with an 85-57 win over Kazakhstan.
North Korean center Ro Suk Yong led the scoring with 19 points to help the combined Koreas team place second in the group.
South Korea is the defending champion, but a gold medal for the combined team won’t count toward its medal tally because it will be shared.
Another combined Koreas team competing under the “unification” flag reached the finals, with the men’s lightweight fours advancing via the repechage in the rowing.
There are 28 gold medals on offer Tuesday, including seven in swimming, the women’s water polo final, weightlifting, wrestling and taekwondo.