Divya TS and Sarabjot Singh finished with a silver in a close 10m air pistol mixed team final against China to take India's shooting tally to 19 medals at the ongoing Hangzhou Asian Games on Saturday.
The Indians, who had qualified for the gold medal match at the top of the table earlier today, were leading through the final before Jiang Ranxin and Zhang Bowen mounted a comeback to win 16-14.
It all came down to decimals in decisive series. In a mixed team final, all four shooters take a shot each and the team with the highest combined score in each round wins 2 points.
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India started the final with a comfortable 4-0 lead, winning the first two series before China got their first points via a tied third series and then took the fourth as cheers rang out in the range.
India were in a solid position at 7-3 when both Chinese shooters shot in the 9s and their coach called for a timeout. The break in momentum worked as the Indians shot in the 9s and China then levelled the final 7-7 to put the Indians under pressure.
Divya responded with a terrific 10.8 as they continued in the same vein, taking the next two series to extend their lead to 11-7. But a 10.7 from Zhang saw China take the next series by a margin as narrow as 0.1 points and then drew level once again at 11-11.
A very happy birthday to our shooter Sarabjot Singh. Celebrating with a Silver Medal win today in the 10M Mixed Team Pistol event! ��������
The Chinese Gold Medal winning pair joining in the birthday celebrations!
Heart to Heart, Future!#IndiaAtAG22 | #WeAreTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/70TAebn9qn- Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) September 30, 2023
This is when Indian coach Munkhbayar Dorjsuren called for a timeout and spoke to both shooters. It didn't lead to much though, as India lost the lead for the first time in the final as China clinched the next series by 0.2 points.
The next series was crucial and India sealed with the decimals in their favour now - just 0.1 point - to bring back parity at 13-13. The drama intensified as the next series was tied. It was 14-14 and whoever won the next series would get gold.
And it was China who got there in the end.