Shymkent [Kazakhstan], August 27 : India's Anish Bhanwala put up a brilliant performance to bag the silver medal in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championship 2025 on Wednesday, as per Olympics.com.
The 22-year-old shooter registered 35 hits in the final, finishing just one point behind China's Su Lianbofan, the 20-year-old rising star who set a junior world record with 36/40 to claim gold. Lee Jaekyoon of the Republic of Korea, who had topped the qualification round, took home the bronze with a score of 23.
For Anish, this marks his second individual medal at the Asian Championships, having earlier won a bronze in Changwon in 2023. The young shooter, who famously won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, was also part of the Indian squad that secured team bronze at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
India had two representatives in the final, with Adarsh Singh and Anish both advancing after strong qualifying rounds. Adarsh shot 585-20x to finish second in the qualification standings, matching Lee's tally, while Anish qualified with a fourth-place finish with 583-21x. In the final, however, Adarsh managed 15/25 and had to settle for fifth place.
In the team event of the men's 25m rapid fire pistol, India clinched silver with a score of 1738-58x, finishing behind South Korea (1748-56x). People's Republic of China finished third off the podium with 1733-64x. Alongside Anish and Adarsh, Neeraj Kumar, who placed 18th in the qualifying with 570-17x, completed the silver-winning Indian line-up.
India also secured another silver in the men's 50m pistol team event. Yogesh Kumar (548-6x), Amanpreet Singh (543-6x) and Ravinder Singh (542-9x) combined for 1633- 21x to finish behind the Islamic Republic of Iran, who bagged gold with 1652-22x. South Korea settled for bronze with 1619-18x.
In the trap mixed team event, Kynan Chenai and Aashima Ahlawat narrowly missed out on a podium finish after losing 38-34 to Kazakhstan in the bronze medal match. The duo had earlier qualified with a combined score of 133, reaching the medal playoff.
With Wednesday's three podium finishes, India's medal tally at the 2025 Asian Shooting Championships climbed to 22 medals in the senior events, nine gold, six silver, and seven bronze. Among the highlights, Manu Bhaker has already won three bronze medals, including one in the women's 10m air pistol individual event.
India's senior shooting contingent for the Shymkent meet features 35 shooters competing across 15 events, while an additional 129 Indian athletes are participating in the junior categories. The championship will conclude on Friday.