It was a bittersweet day for Indian rifle shooter Manini Kaushik at the 2023 Asian Games on Wednesday, 27 September, as she claimed a silver medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions Team competition but could manage only 18th position in the Individual event.
While Manini was happy for herself for winning the silver medal and for her teammates Sift Kaur Samra, who set a world record and bagged the gold medal, and Ashi Chouksey, who took bronze in the Individual section, she was also disappointed at finishing only 18th in the Individual section.
The Indian team of Sift, Manini and Ashi shot an aggregate score of 1764 to finish behind the Chinese team of Han J, Xia S and Zhang Q, who had a total of 1773.
The Republic of Korea finished third for the bronze medal with a score of 1756.
"I'm happy for my teammates and that we got a silver in the team competition. I'm just focusing on the positives at the moment," Manini said later.
I Have Mixed Feelings: Manini Kaushik
As all the shooters walked off after the qualifying stage of the Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions qualifying, Manini was seen wiping tears.
So, was she happy or sad?
"Both," said Manini. "I'm happy for my team and for my country, but I need to work on myself. There are mixed feelings but I'm just focusing on the positive sides at the moment," said the shooter from Rajasthan.
"At least I have a medal to show. I am not coming back empty-handed, so I am happy about that. I'm happy about my country, about my teammates, about my staff and all the people working with us," said the 22-year-old Indian shooter who studies law at the Manipur University, Jaipur.
Manini says her father owned an air gun and she became interested in shooting targets. Having watched her teammates do well in the individual event, Manini vowed to herself that she would improve herself and come back in the next edition to win an individual medal.
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