Sanjeev Rajput won another Silver medal for India, on Tuesday, in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event at Asian Games 2018. After his performances in the initial round, Rajput bounced back quickly was on the top position after the starting five rounds. On the second and third positions were Iran and Japanese shooters.

The scores after the first ten shots saw Sanjeev leading the pack with 103 points in his kitty. On the second spot was Kazakhstan Yurikov with 101.6 points, while Japan’s Matsumoto was on the third spot with 99.8 points.

In the third set of 5 rounds (at the end of 15 shots), the Indian shooter had a hiccup and slipped to the second spot. Kazakhstan’s shooter Yurikov moved past Sanjeev and was ahead by a slender lead of .05 points, as they were on 151.7 and 151.2 points respectively.

After the break, which was meant for preparation and sighting time, the Indian shooter and his Iran's counterpart Yuriko were embroiled in a nail-biting contest. However, Sanjeev reclaimed the top spot as he ended on 202.6, which was 0.4 point ahead of Yuriko's score of 202.2. The scores at the end of 20 rounds saw India on the top spot.

The next round, too, was aced by the Indian shooter Sanjeev Rajput extended his lead to 1.2 points as at the end of 25 shots, he was on 254.3 points. Kazakhstan's Yuriko was on 253.1, while third-placed China's Yang Haoran was on 252.2 points.

At the end of 30-shots-rounds, Rajput had a handsome lead of 3 points over the second-placed Chinese shooter. China moved a spot and was on the second place with 304.1 points in their kitty. On the third place, it was Japan's Takayuki Matsumoto with 303.9 points.

Sanjeev seemed to lose the plot during the next five rounds; however, he regained composure and ensured that he ended it by being on the top with 355.6 points. China was second placed, while Kazakhstan was back on the third spot.

After the culmination of Stage 1, Sanjeev was still leading in the points tally with 402.8 points. China was placed in second and third place respectively, with each of their shooter being on 402.5 points.

China overtook India in the next round as Hui Zicheng was on the top spot with 432.8 points. Sanjeev on the second spot with 431.7 points. It was Japan's shooter who was the third spot.

In the next round, Japan's shooter was eliminated and had to settle for the Bronze medal. The showdown took place between China's Hui Zicheng and India's Sanjeev Rajput.

Ultimately, it was China's Zicheng who won the Gold medal in Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event at Asian Games 2018, whereas Sanjeev Rajput had to settle for the Silver medal, as he could not go past the Chinese counterpart in the last-leg!

Not to forget Sanjeev also happens to be a Commonwealth Games 2016 Gold medallist shooter. Sanjeev Rajput won the gold medal in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event with a games record at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Saturday, with a score of 454.5 to bag the top prize.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2018 12:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).