New Delhi, Sep 26 (PTI) Divyansh Singh Panwar would have gone through an entire gamut of emotions in the last two days of the Asian Games in Hangzhou.

If the 20-year-old was ecstatic following the 10m air rifle team gold on Monday, he looked distraught on Tuesday, after losing the 10m air rifle mixed team bronze to the South Korean team at the same venue — and probably the same firing station.

Divyansh and Ramita Jindal lost a nerve-wracking bronze-medal contest as India went without a medal at the shooting range for the first time in three days.

Without taking anything away from the team gold, Divyansh’s unimpressive performances in the individual event of late have put him on a sticky wicket, with a lot of people questioning his ability to handle pressure in big competitions.

A string of fine performances in 2019 was snapped by ordinary runs at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the World Championships, and now the loss of a sure-shot bronze medal in the mixed team event in the Chinese city.

But his coach, Deepak Dubey, says it is a “minor setback” for the tall Rajasthan marksman, who has been through much bigger challenges in life.

Dubey was told not to enrol the tall youngster in his shooting academy in Faridabad as his back was heavily arched when he came from Jaipur looking for a good institute.

“He had a heavily-arched back when he came to us in 2016… a banana back as we call it. And, holding a rifle would have put more pressure on his backbone, which could have caused a serious injury.

“He was put through rigorous yoga sessions, especially surya namaskar, and a posture which put less pressure on his back,” Dubey told

Source: PTI News