CWG bronze-medallist Ankur Mittal eyes Asian Games gold

Few days after missing out on the gold medal in the men's double trap event of the recently-concluded 2018 Commonwealth Games, bronze-medallist shooter Ankur Mittal has said that he would try his level best to change the colour of his medal in the upcoming Asian Games.

The 26-year-old, who picked silver medal in the World Championships in Moscow last year besides bagging a silver and gold in the ISSF World Cups, finished on the third spot after posting a score of 53 in the finals to settle for the bronze at the Belmont Shooting Centre.

Reflecting on his performance in the prestigious quadrennial Games, Ankur admitted that he failed to give up to the mark performance in the finals, adding that he would try to clinch gold in the upcoming games.

"According to me, I failed to give up to the mark performance in the finals. I missed out on gold . I was standing at the top position after 30 rounds. But I somehow fell down thereafter and had to settle for bronze. Now, Asian Games are coming I will try to clinch gold there," Mittal told ANI.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games have been India's third most successful CWG of all time. India won a total of 66 medals, which included 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze.

With India winning 16 of those medals from shooting, Ankur said that the country's medal tally would affect severely if the sport is excluded from the next edition of the Games.

"This time, we have brought much more medals than the last edition. We have got a total of 16 medals in shooting this time around. Numbers of shooters have increased now. I believe the shooters will continue to do well in future as well. In shotgun, only Shreyasi Singh and I have picked medals. We fell short in trap and skeet events. However, rifle and pistol shooters had covered it up," he said.

"Out of 55 medals, 16 medals are from shooting. And these 16 medals will be removed from next time. I think medal tally would be affected severely with the exclusion of shooting from the next edition. I think this will be a setback for both shooters as well as the nation. This is a big platform for the Indian shooters," Ankur added.

Earlier this year, Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) had categorically stated that the federation's stand was final and binding on all participating Commonwealth nations to exclude shooting from the 2022 CWG in Birmingham.

Meanwhile, the Asian Games is slated to be held from August 18 to September 2 in Indonesia.