BHOPAL: India’s Sarabjot Singh clinched the gold medal while Varun Tomar finished with bronze in the men’s 10m Air Pistol event at the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup 2023 in Bhopal on Wednesday.
Manu Bhaker, a skilled Indian shooter, and Yashaswini Singh Deswal, however, were unable to get past the qualification round in the 10m Air Pistol competition.
In the inaugural final of the Bhopal ISSF World Cup, Sarabjot Singh, a 2021 junior world gold medalist in the team and mixed team categories, defeated Azerbaijan’s Ruslan Lunev 16-0.
Earlier, Sarabjot Singh, 21, finished second in the qualification round with 585 points. He scored 98, 97, 99, 97, 97, 97 in the six qualification series.
Ruslan Lunev (251.9 points) and Sarabjot Singh (253.2 points) finished first and second in the ranking round, respectively, as they qualified for the gold-medal round. With a 250.3, Varun Tomar was forced to accept third place.
Shiva Narwal of India took first place in qualifying with 585 points, however, he was only vying for ranking points (RPO). Arjun Singh Cheema, a fellow countryman, came in eighth with 579 points.
Sumit Rawan (13th) failed to progress beyond the qualifiers.
Meanwhile, in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event, Manu Bhaker finished a disappointing 16th with 568 points in qualifying.
Divya Thadigol, who was placed third with 579 points in the qualification round, was eliminated after placing fifth with 197.1 points in the ranking round.
Rhythm Sangwan, one of the other Indian shooters, came in at 13th place and was unable to advance through the qualification round. In qualification, Esha Singh and Yashaswini Singh Deswal finished sixth and ninth, respectively, however, both were merely vying for ranking points (RPO).
Li Xue of China won the gold, while Doreen Vennekamp of Germany had to settle for silver. China’s Qian Wei finished third and completed the podium.
On Thursday, the Indian pair of Hriday Hazarika/Tilottama Sen and Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil/Narmada Raju will be in action in the 10m Air Rifle mixed team event.
In the second event of the day, the pair of Rhythm Sangwan/ Varun Tomar and Divya Thadigol/Sarabjot Singh will represent India in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event. (ANI)