Greater things are sure to come in near future: Indian shooting body chief

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo on Saturday expressed his delight at the exceptional performance by the country's shooters at the Asian Championships and described it as a harbinger of a bright future for the sport in the country.

India concluded their campaign in Shymket, Kazakhstan with 31 medals, including 14 gold, eight silver and nine bronze in the senior category, placing them second behind China, who finished with 15 gold, 12 silver and three bronze.

Overall, India won 103 medals, including 52 gold, 26 silver, and 25 bronze, in the three categories -- senior, junior and youth -- they participated in.

"It is a spectacular performance and it is quite clear that the confidence of the shooting ecosystem is sky-high and significantly boosted by our performance at the Paris Olympics," Kalikesh said in a press release.

"Particularly pleasing is the performance of the juniors, which tells you that Indian shooting has just begun and greater things are sure to come in the near future,” he added of the contingent's performance in the continental tournament.

Some of the highlights of the senior team's performance were two-time Olympian Elavenil Valarivan's second Asian crown (she won a double gold partnering Arjun Babuta in the mixed team event) in women's air rifle with an Asian record score, Neeru Dhanda's first championship gold for India in women's trap, Sift Kaur Samra's maiden Asian title in women's 50 rifle 3 positions (3P) and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar's defense of his men's 3P title.

Indian junior shooters also reiterated the country's depth in the sport by completely dominating all the Olympic events to win 10 golds, four silver and bronze medals. PTI AH AH AT AT