Anish Bhanwal dazzles in 25m rapid fire, claims silver in Asian Championships

Anish Bhanwal broke a jinx of sorts as he clinched silver, his first in senior category, in the 25m rapid fire event at the Asian Championships in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday.

The Paris Games participant, who had won bronze in the 2023 edition of the championships, shot a brilliant final, but missed out on gold by a small margin. Anish scored 35/40 to bag silver, while the gold went to China’s Lianbofan Su, who scored 36.

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By his own admission, ‘it was the best final’ that Anish has played in his decade-old career.

“I haven’t shot this well in any of the finals I have played in. I am really happy with the result,” Anish told TOI. “I had never won an international silver in the senior category. There was always bronze, but I am happy to have upgraded. My next target is of course gold,” he said.

In the junior men’s 25m rapid fire event, Sameer Gulia took bronze with 21 hits, while the gold went to Korea’s Geonwoo Son with 25 after winning the shootoff with Kazakhstan’s Kirill Tsukanov.