NEW DELHI: World champion Samrat Rana was unable to replicate his strong preliminary-round performance in the men's 10m air pistol final at the Asian Championship, settling for the bronze medal on the opening day of competition here on Wednesday.
Samrat, who was the standout performer at last year's World Championships in Cairo -- where the Karnal shooter showed nerves of steel to win gold -- raised hopes of another top-podium finish in the season opener.
He seemed set to carry his form into the new season after shooting 581 in the qualification round, which placed him second going into the final.
But, in the medal round, the 21-year-old shot 221.5 to finish behind world No.1 from China, Hu Kai (243.0) who took the gold, and Kazakhstan's Valeriy Rakhimzhan, who bagged the silver with a score of 241.0.
The other Indian to make it to the eight-shooter final, Sharvan Kumar, came in fourth.
India claimed the team silver in the event, with Samrat (581), Shravan (578), and world championships bronze medallist Varun Tomar (573) combining for a total of 1,732 points.
Uzbekistan won the gold with an identical aggregate of 1,732, but edged out India with a superior 'inner 10' score of 58 compared to the hosts' 52. Kazakhstan finished a close third with 1,731 points.
India has entered the largest squad of 118 shooters with Kazakhstan fielding the second biggest contingent of 35 athletes.
Regional powerhouses South Korea and Japan have also fielded strong squads and shooters from Chinese Taipei, Vietnam and Hong Kong are also expected to put up good performances.