Manu Fires Gold, Quota For Deepak

India pick five medals on opening day of Asian Shooting Championship

Deepak Kumar and Manu Bhaker made it a memorable day for India on the first day of the Asian shooting championship in Doha on Tuesday.

Deepak, who serves the Indian Air Force, celebrated his 32nd birthday by winning a bronze medal in the air rifle event. More important, he helped India win their 10th quota place for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. India were represented by 12 shooters in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Later, pistol prodigy shot down gold in the air pistol event while the junior mixed trap team comprising Vivaan Kapoor and Manisha Keer also won a gold medal.

For long, Deepak Kumar has been knocking on the qualification doors. His turn came on Tuesday after having missed out on chances at the Changwon World Championship in 2018 and then in the Rio ISSF World Cup stage earlier this year.

A consistent shooter in air rifle, Deepak shot a steady 626.8 to finish third in qualification, before finishing behind two Chinese shooters in the final to nail the quota and the medal.