Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anish Bhanwala kept India’s hopes alive for another medal from the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Delhi when he booked a final slot in the 25m Rapid Fire pistol event at the Karni Singh Shooting Range on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old, who was fourth after the precision stage with a score of 294 on Monday, maintained his consistent performance to score an identical score to finish with a total of 588, similar to Christian Reitz of Germany. However, Bhanwala was placed fifth due to an inferior inner tens score.
The other Indians in the fray – Adarsh Singh and Arpit Goel – came up with a better showing in the Rapid Fire stage but failed to make the cut for the six-man final. Adarsh finished 11th with a score of 582 while Goel was a spot behind with a total of 580.
China’s Junmin Lin topped the standings with a score of 592 in the only event for which Tokyo Olympic quota places were withdrawn by the International Olympic Council over India’s decision to deny visa to two Pakistan shooters in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack.
It was an otherwise disappointing day for Indian shooters as the highly rated Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu along with newcomer Lieutenant Anuradha failed to reach the 10m Air Pistol final.
Bhaker, who had finished fifth in the 25m pistol event a few days ago, was the best placed Indian in the standing at 14th position after aggregating a score of 573 while Anuradha finished 22nd. Sidhu was 25th on the basis of inner ten scores after scoring an identical 571.
In the women’s 50m rifle 3-position event, N Gaayathri and Sunidhi Chauhan failed to match even their elimination round performance finishing 36th and 49th respectively.
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