Kerala's Vidarsa wins second silver in Asian Games women's 50m rifle event, enters individual final

Nagoya: India secured a silver medal in the women's 50m rifle 3-position team event at the Asian Games 2026. The Indian trio of Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa K Vinod and Ashi Chouksey won the silver medal here on Saturday, with the first two shooters also making the individual final. Malayali shooter Vidarsa won her second medal of the competition, having been previously part of the 10m air rifle team which won the silver medal.

Kozhikode-based Vidarsa, previously the first-ever shooter from Kerala to win a medal at the Asian Games, has now added another milestone to her career, becoming the first shooter to secure two, both coming in a single edition of the Games.

India scored a combined 1763 to clinch silver. China won the gold with a record 1773 tally, while Kazakhstan settled for the bronze with 1754. The 50m rifle 3 positions event requires shooters to compete in kneeling, prone and standing positions, with the qualification scores determining the eight finalists.

Vidarsa positioned herself in sixth place to secure qualification with a total of 588, while Tilottama tallied 590 across the three stages to finish third out of the 8 spots for qualification. Ashi ended with 585 and came agonisingly close, only to miss out on a place in the final. World number 15 Vidarsa staged a late comeback to finish among the finalists, despite not being among the leading shooters for much of the qualification.

With the 50m rifle 3p being her major event, the win comes as a cherry on top for Vidarsa, who will now focus on a medal at the individual competition for the same.
(With PTI inputs)