India's shooters beat China on way to world record, gold medal

HANGZHOU, China: India's shooters enjoyed another strong day at the Asian Games on Friday (Sep 29), with their men's 50m rifle team breaking the world record on the way to beating China for gold on day six of competition in Hangzhou.

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Suresh Kusale and Akhil Sheoran secured gold with a total of 1,769 points, six points more than China and eight more than the previous record set by the United States last November.

Kusale, 28, said it was a "great experience" with a "great team".

"We are like brothers," Kusale said. "We help each other and stick together."

Their achievement, one of six golds for India so far in shooting in Hangzhou, earned praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"A stupendous win, prestigious gold and a world record," he posted to his 92 million followers on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. "They have shown exceptional determination and teamwork."

China's racewalkers gave the host nation plenty to cheer on Friday with a one-two finish in the men's and women's 20km events.

"I was the champion in the last Asian Games and to become champion now was not easy because these past two years I have actually experienced ups and downs," said 20km world record holder Yang Jiayu after pipping compatriot Ma Zhenxia to gold by one second.

At the tennis 2023 US Open quarter-finalist Zheng Qinwen, beat her compatriot Zhu Lin 6-2, 6-4 to win gold in the women's singles and secure a quota for next summer's Olympics.

"The feeling was incredible," she said. "I'm really happy about that. That was not an easy match.

"As you can see, there's a lot of emotion on the court for both of us."

As expected Thailand dominated in sepak takraw winning both the men's and women's Team Regu. Popular in