Seeing the national flag rising in China feels really good and special: Sift Kaur Samra

Hangzhou: Winning a gold medal at the Asian Games was satisfying for Sift Kaur Samra, but doing so in China made it more "special" for the shooter from India, the host nation's rising neighbour.

The Indian markswoman produced some excellent shooting to claim the gold medal in the individual 50m rifle 3 position event while compatriot Ashi Chouksey settled for the bronze at the Games here on Wednesday.

Samra claimed the yellow mettle with a World and Games record score of 469.6 while becoming the first Indian shooter to win gold in rifle 3 position at the Continental showpiece.

"Seeing the national flag rising in China feels really good and special," Samra said after her triumph.

"I was just focussing on my shots and the process. I was thinking that I have to win a gold. I knew that India has not won gold in individual (50m 3P) event in the Asian Games. I wanted to be the first one to win this event," she added.

Chouksey, who was in contention for silver, lost out on the second place on the last shot -- an 8.9 dashing her hopes.

Chouksey said Samra even "scolded" for her poor last shot, which denied the India a one-two finish in the eight-women 3P final.

"Yesterday we (she and Sift) were discussing that both the gold and silver should be ours. She was even scolding how you could shoot 8.9 in the last shot," Chouksey said.

"There was a lot of pressure on me. When I took my rifle first, I was not getting in. So, I put it back. When I saw the timer, it was just 30 seconds left.

"I was not relaxed at all and since it was the last shot, I was very nervous. After all I had to shoot, so it went like that," Chouksey added.