Trap shooter Lakshya clinches silver medal
Jakarta, Aug 20: India's shooter Lakshay Sheoran won the silver medal by finishing second, while compatriot Manavjit Singh Sandhu finished fifth in the men's trap final at the 2018 Asian Games here on Monday.
The 20-year-old, who had finished fourth in the qualification round, got 43 points to finish second behind Chinese Taipei's Kunci Yang, who equalled the world record score of 48.
AHN Daemyeong of South Korea won the bronze medal with 30 points, four ahead of Indian veteran Manavjit who had topped the two-phased qualification.
Daemyeong went out of the competition after 40 shots, getting 30 points, while till then Lakshya and Kunpi headed into the final 10-pointer round with 34 and 38 respectively.
However, it was likely that Kunpi would go on to win the gold medal having a four-point gap over the Indian.
Kunpi, 20, didn't miss any shot as he charged his way to the title with a joint world record score, while Lakshya missed a shot in the 49th spot.
The Indian missed the first stroke. But he made a strong comeback to hit 17 strokes in a row. But he fumbled in the 19th, 21st and 22nd shots to blow his chances.
He then got back his momentum and was spot on for nine consecutive strikes before flunking the 32nd and 33rd which proved to be costly.
Kunci, who was sixth to make it to the six-man final, produced a stunning final performance during which he missed only two shots -- 13th and 23rd.
Eun Jiwon of South Korea and Hagen Alexander Topacio finished fifth and sixth respectively in the six-man final.
Lakshay's medal was India's fourth medal at the Games. Of the other three, one has come from wrestling and two from shooting.
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Mamata’s decision not to quit part of her protest against Centre, EC: Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision not to quit after her defeat in the assembly polls, calling it a part of her protest against the Centre and the Election Commission of India.
Talking to reporters, Raut asserted that it is necessary to unite against the “dictatorship of the Centre and partisan behaviour of the Election Commission”. He said the poll body has become “slaves” of the Centre.
The Opposition has to decide whether it has to contest the polls or not, he said.
“Mamata Banerjee is not resigning is part of her agitation against the government (Centre), the Election Commission (EC) and a series of acts against democracy,” Raut said.
It has to be seen what direction the agitation takes, he added.
Alleging that the West Bengal assembly poll verdict was “not a people's mandate but a conspiracy”, Banerjee on Tuesday refused to resign as chief minister.
The BJP sealed a landslide victory with 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the TMC’s uninterrupted 15-year rule. Banerjee dismissed the outcome as “engineered” and asserted that her party was fighting the Election Commission, not the BJP. The TMC could only manage 80 seats.
In a post on Facebook, Raut said Banerjee’s decision not to quit is fully justified. He also sought to draw a parallel with the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis.
The then Chief Justice of India had observed during hearings on petitions seeking the disqualification of rebel MLAs of the undivided Shiv Sena that Uddhav Thackeray, who headed the party at the time, could have been reinstated as chief minister had he not resigned, Raut said.
The Rajya Sabha MP said Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had called up Banerjee after the polls and extended support. Almost all INDIA bloc leaders have called Banerjee and extended their support to her.
“We have to come together if we have to unite against the dictatorship of the Centre and the partisan behaviour of the EC or the way the poll body has become slaves of the government,” Raut said.
He claimed that even many in the government do not agree with the “degradation of democracy”.
