Manini Kaushik won her first individual international medal after claiming bronze at the female 50m rifle prone event and helped Team India for a silver (Screengrab/Instagram) at the Team event

Manini Kaushik of India won her first individual international medal after claiming bronze at the women’s 50m rifle prone event at the Asian Shooting Championship on Friday. The 24 -year -old Jaipur, who also competes on the 50 meter rifle 3 posts, shot a total of 617.8 to seal in third place. Hana IM (620.2) of South Korea won gold, while Competritation Eunseo Lee (620.2) took silver. Although Manini initially finished fifth, she ran into a medal as Yelin Choi (620.1) of South Korea and was competing in India’s Shift Kaur Samra (617.9) ‘Ranking Points only’ (RPO) category. Under this format, athletes participate only for ranking points and are not eligible for podium finish. In the score of Manini’s series, 104.0, 103.8, 101.2, 103.3, 103.2 and 102.3 were read in six rounds of 10 shots. His performance also played an important role in winning the team silver in the same program in India, which is not part of the Olympic program. Manini’s Indian trio (617.8), Surabhi Bhardwaj (614.4) and Vinod Vidarsa (613.8) jointly ran back behind South Korea for 1846 points, who gave gold medal with 1856.8. Kazakhstan settled for bronze with 1828.2. In the junior category, Prachi Gikawad of India added the tally of medals with silver in a 50m rifle prone to women. He scored 616.6 runs, finishing behind Sehe Oh (618.6) of South Korea, while Sofya Malkina (616.3) of Kazakhstan achieved bronze.

Along with Anushka Thokur (607.6) and Tejal Nathwat (599.2), Prachi also helped India’s bronze with a collection of 1823.4 in the bag. South Korea topped the podium with 1844 points, while Kazakhstan took silver at 1830.1. A strong performance from both senior and junior shooters highlighted India’s depth in the 50m rifle prone discipline at the continental level.

Pakistan Hockey Team (Image-X)

Pakistan The 2025-26 FIH has confirmed its participation in the Hockey Pro League season, establishing two matches against the arch-rivals India. The International Hockey Federation announced the acceptance of Pakistan’s invitation on Thursday, marking its return to the Elite competition after being promoted through the FIH Hockey Nations Cup in Malaysia.Pakistan’s entry comes after New Zealand, which won the Rashtra Cup final against Pakistan, rejecting the invitation to join the Pro League. After the protocol, FIH invited Pakistan as runners -up.The seventh edition of the Pakistan League will include eight other teams, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, India, Netherlands and Spain. They will replace Ireland, who were again accused after finishing ninth in the previous season.The site for India-Pakistan matches is yet to be determined. In the 2024–25 season, India played their eight domestic matches in Bhubaneswar, while their distant matches were divided between Amsterdam and Antwerp, with four matches.

FIH President Taib Ikram said: “Great to see Pakistan back into the elite competition – it is a truly impressive milestone for world hockey. Their return marks not only return to a team with such a rich and storey history, but also have a thrilling boost for visibility and fIH hockey pro league access.”“I can already guess an increased visibility of the Pro League with Pakistan’s participation,” said Ikram.Pakistan earlier this year earned its place through its performance in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup in Malaysia. Despite winning the incident against Pakistan in the final, New Zealand later indicated that they would not proceed with the Pro League invitation.