Ramita Jindal became the latest teenage shooter to shine for India, winning the bronze medal in the women's 10m air rifle at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sunday.
The 19-year-old, world junior champion in 2022, was making her debut at a senior major multi-sport competition and held her nerves in a close final to finish behind two shooters from China with a total score of 230.1. She outgunned compatriot Mehuli Ghosh, who finished fourth after a shoot-off between both Indians saw Ramita surge ahead with a near-perfect 10.8 under pressure.
Huang Yuting won gold with a Games record score of 252.7 while reigning world champion Han Jiayu took the silver.
Throughout most of the final, the 19-year-old was in medal contention with a consistent string of scores. Before a wayward 9.9 on the 16th shot, she had maintained her silver position. But once she found herself in the elimination zone, she brought herself back with a 10.5 and then pulled herself back with a 10.7 and 10.8 when it mattered.
Earlier in qualification, Ramita finished second with a score of 631.9 while Mehuli was fourth with 630.8. The duo along with Ashi Chouksey also won the team silver with their cumulative qualification scores.
It was heartbreak for Mehuli though, who had won a bronze and Olympic quota for India at the World Championship last month. She survived a couple of close calls once elimination began and missed the podium by just 0.4 points.
Ramita hails from Ladwa in Kurukshetra, Haryana and started shooting when she was 13 years of age. She currently trains at Gun for Glory under coach Neha Chavan in Chennai.