Jakarta: India opened its account in the 18th Asian Games with Ravi Kumar and Apurvi Chandela winning the bronze medal in the 10m mixed air rifle event here today. The duo of Kumar and Chandela finished third on the podium with a score of 429.9.
Chinese Taipei claimed gold with 494.1 with a Games record while China bagged silver with 492.5. Kumar and Chandela entered the final as the second-best team with 835.3. However, Manu Bhaker and Abhishek Verma failed to qualify for the final of 10m mixed air pistol event.
An Indian contingent comprising 804 athletes and officials will look to better their 2014 Incheon Games record.
India had concluded the previous edition (2014) at the eight rank with a tally of 57 medals (11 Gold, 9 Silver, 37 Bronze). China had topped the medals table with a staggering tally of 345 medals (151 gold, 109 silver, 85 Bronze), followed by South Korea with 228 medals (79 gold, 70 silver, 79 bronze) and Japan at third with 200 medals (47 gold, 77 silver, 76 bronze).
The month-long multi-sport event is being co-hosted by Indonesian cities Jakarta and Palembang. Asia’s biggest sporting extravaganza will see over 10,000 athletes from 46 nations compete to grab the bragging rights in Asia.