The men’s 10m air rifle team clinched gold as India climbed to the top of the medal tally on day five of the ISSF World Cup in Changwon.

The Indian men’s team beat South Korea 17-15 in a nerve-wracking final to win India’s third gold at Changwon. Arjun Babuta, Shahu Tushar Mane and Paarth Makhija combined effectively to ward off the Korean challenge after being down 11-15 at one stage. It was Arjun and Shahu’s second gold of the competition.

It was all silver after that as the women’s rifle team of Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita and Mehuli Ghosh fought hard and were as close as 10-12 before the Koreans won the last two series of single shots to nail it 16-10 in their favour.

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In the men’s 10m air pistol team final, Shiva Narwal, Naveen and Sagar Dangi fought tooth and nail with a determined Italian side to be level 15-15 before the final series. However, Paolo Monna, Alessio Torracchi and Luca Tesconi proved too experienced for the new look Indian team as the Italians clinched gold 17-15.

India’s third silver of the day came in the 10m air pistol women’s team event. Rhythm Sangwan, Yuvika Tomar and Palak, again a fresh team, looked out of it at 2-10 against a quality Korean side comprising Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Kim Minjung.

It was then that coach Samaresh Jung called for a time-out and it brought about an admirable fight back from India as they closed in at 12-14. However, the Koreans stamped their class in the final series and pulled it off 16-12 for their third gold of the tournament.

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In the trap mixed team competition, the Indian pairs of Prithviraj Tondaiman-Preeti Rajak and Bhowneesh Mendrita-Neeru did not qualify for the medal events.

India is on top of the medal tally with three golds, four silvers and one bronze medal at World Cup so far with 15 more gold medals on offer over the next six days of the competition.