Learn more about the shooting trio that gave India its first gold medal at the Asian Games 2023
After a strong opening day showing, India began its second day at the Asian Games 2023 with a bang, bagging its first gold medal of the competition via the men's 10m air rifle team of Divyansh Singh Panwar, Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar. In the process, the trio also recorded a new world record. Later, Aishwary won another medal in the same category, winning bronze in the individual event. (Medal Tally | Schedule | Full Coverage | Sports News)
Let's learn more about the gold medal-winning shooting trio who emerged triumphant at the Asian Games 2023.
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar
The 22-year-old Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar hails from Ratanpur village in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh. Born in a Rajput family of farmers, Aishwary is the youngest of three children. He started to receive training in 2015 at the Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy in Bhopal.
After a string of victories at the junior circuit, Aishwary participated in the 2020 Olympics after securing a quota via the Asian Championships in 2019. He bagged a gold medal at the 2021 ISSF World Cup event in New Delhi with a score of 462.5 in men's 50m 3P. He also clinched gold in 50m 3P men's event with a new junior world record at the 2021 ISSF Junior World Championships held in Lima, Peru.
Most recently, the 22-year-old won a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Cairo in February in the 50m 3P men's event. The youngster has a special liking for this category, where he would be gunning for gold at the Asian Games later this week, and has a bright future ahead of him. Read more about the talented youngster here.
Divyansh Singh Panwar
Divyansh, a 21-year-old from Jaipur, took up shooting in 2014 at the age of 12 and initially used his elder sister Anjali's weapons at the Jangpura shooting range in Jaipur. In 2017, his father became worried by his "PUBG addiction" and enrolled him at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi, where he trained under Deepak Kumar Dubey.
Divyansh won a silver in the individual event and a gold medal in the mixed team event during the Beijing World Cup 2019, which earned him a quota for Tokyo Olympics. At the 2019 World Cup Final in Putian, Divyansh bagged gold in the individual 10m air rifle and gold in the mixed team event.
The 21-year-old won another gold medal at the Cairo World Championships in 2022 in the team event, and is a strong prospect to take India's shooting legacy ahead.
Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil
Rudrankksh is among India's foremost shooting prodigies currently. The 19-year-old is a 10m air rifle specialist, and has already qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 after winning gold in the 10m air rifle event at the 2022 ISSF World Shooting Championships.
A Thane lad, Rudrankksh trains with coach Ajit Patil and is ranked eighth in the world in the 10m air rifle category. He won two gold medals during the 2023 World Cup in Cairo in the individual and mixed team events, and two bronze medals in the same event at 2023 World Cup in Bhopal.
Rudrankksh has earned accolades at the junior as well as senior level and looks primed to take on the mantle of bringing India some Olympic glory in shooting again, in his pet 10m air rifle event.