The ISSF Shooting world cup in New Delhi was the year’s first opportunity for shooters to win quota places for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and hosts India was banking on home conditions and support to add to the two quotas in 10m Air Rifle event, which were won at the World Championship last year.
While the Indian contingent made the most of the home conditions to win three gold medal and top the standings along with Hungary, they would be slightly disappointed that only one more quota was added to their tally after six days of competition.
Here is a detailed look at the performance of each athlete of the Indian contingent at the Karni Singh shooting range.
10m Air Rifle women
With India having secured both the quota places in this category, the opening day competition was all about starting strong and Apurvi Chandela did just that by bagging the gold medal with a new final world record.
Chandela, who had qualified for the final with a qualifying score of 629.3, had started slow and was fourth after the first series of 10 shots. She moved to the top after the sixth series and maintained that position through out.
Among the other Indians in fray, Anjum Moudgil finished 12th with a score of 628 while Elavenil Valarivan was 30th with a score of 625.3. Mehuli Ghosh, who participated in the MQS category, shot a superb 631.
Also read: How Chandela buried the ghost of Mexico world cup to win gold
10m Air Rifle men
A lot was expected from the Indian men’s air rifle contingent but they felt short of making the final and thereby could not challenge for the quota.
Divyansh Panwar and Ravi Kumar seemed to be in the hunt for the finals till the 5th series but struggled to maintain the tempo and slipped in the standings to finish 12th and 14th respectively. Panwar scored 627.2 while Ravi was 0.2 behind at 627. The third shooter, Deepak Kumar, could only manage a score of 624.3 and finished 34th.
10m Air Pistol women
India has had considerable success in this event and with Youth Olympics champion Manu Bhaker and Asian Games bronze medallist Heena Sidhu in the fray, it felt that the hosts had a realistic chance of bagging at least one quota place.
However, both Bhaker and Sidhu wilted under pressure with the latter admitting as much. Bhaker was the best-placed Indian with a score of 573 while Lt. Anuradha, participating in her first world cup, finished three places above Sidhu at 22nd on the basis of more inner tens after both shot an identical 571.
Also read: Manu Bhaker needs to handle her emotions well, says coach Pavel Sminrov
10m Air Pistol men
Teenager Saurabh Chaudhary has been in a league of his own ever since he bagged the Asian Games gold medal in August last year. He went on to win the gold medal in the Youth Olympics and came up with a nerveless performance in his first world cup appearance in the senior category.
The 16-year-old, who qualified third for the final with a score of 587, led from start to finish in the final and broke the world record to win the gold medal with a 5.7-point lead over Serbia’s silver-medallist Damir Mikec.
The gold also ensured India’s only Olympic quota from this world cup.
Compatriots Abhishek Verma and Ravinder Kumar also had a decent outing in the event and were in hunt for a spot in the final till the final series. Both finished with an identical score of 576 but were placed 24th and 26th on the basis of their inner 10s score.
25m Pistol women
India came closest to winning an Olympic quota in the 25m range with Manu Bhaker making it to the final as the second best qualifier with a commanding performance in both precision and rapid fire stage to aggregate a score of 590.
In the final, Bhaker looked poised for a podium finish and a quota place when she in joint second position after the sixth series. But in the seventh, she could only manage two shots and was eliminated. She finished fifth.
Asian Games gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat’s problems in the precision stage came back to haunt her as she failed to qualify for the finals. She had managed to score only 287 in precision and though she made amends by scoring 293 in rapid fire, the final score of 580 wasn’t enough to reach the final. The third Indian in the fray, Chinky Yadav, finished 17th with a score of 580.
25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men
The International Olympic Council withdrew the two quota places on offer in this event as two Pakistan shooters, entered in the event, were denied visas by the Indian government in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.
This meant the event was a test of progress made by the likes of Anish Bhanwala and other Indian youngsters.
Bhanwala gave a good account of himself by qualifying for the final in fifth place with a score of 588. He survived a shootout against France’s Clement Bessaguet to avoid being the first shooter to be eliminated in the finals but could not go any further to finish fifth.
Adarsh Singh had earlier finished 11th in qualifying with a score of 581 while Arpit Goel was 12th with a score of 580.
50m rifle 3-position women
India had a disappointing performance in this category with the experienced Tejaswini Sawant failing to even make it to the qualification round. The other two Indians in fray also did not set the qualifying on fire.
Gaayathri Nithyandam was the best Indian finisher in 36th spot with a total of 1163 while Sunidhi Chauhan was 49th with a total of 1156.
50m rifle 3-position men
The men’s big bore rifle shooters also did not give a good account of themselves in windy conditions and Olympian Sanjeev Rajput would be rueing the mistakes he made in standing position after a decent score in kneeling and prone. Rajput eventually finished 25th with a total of 1169 while Parul Kumar was three places ahead with a total of 1170.
10m Air Rifle mixed team
There were no Olympic quotas on offer in the mixed team events but given the form of Indian shooters, one expected a podium finish from one of the two pairs in action. The team of Ravi Kumar and Moudgil came tantalisingly close to a final spot with a score of 836.3, which was just 0.2 points behind the fifth and last pair to qualify for the finals.
The other Indian combination of Chandela and Deepak Kumar finished 25th with a total score of 831.
10m Air Pistol mixed team
India signed off the world cup just like it started – with a gold medal. Chaudhary and Bhaker showed that they were formidable as a team, winning the gold medal by over five points against an experienced Chinese pair.
While Chaudhary was once again in top form, Bhaker put behind the disappointment of the individual events to shoot a near perfect final, having qualified for the final with a world record equalling score of 778.
The other Indian combination of Sindhu and Verma finished ninth in qualifying with a score of 770.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!