Chinki Yadav finished ahead of the experienced Rahi Sarnobat and Manu Bhaker as India swept the women’s 25m pistol event of the ISSF World Cup in Delhi on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Yadav prevailed over Asian Games champion Sarnobat in a shoot-off after their scores were tied at 32, taking India’s gold tally to nine. Bhaker shot 28 before being eliminated, leaving her compatriots to fight for the top two spots at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
All three shooters have already bagged their quotas for the Tokyo Olympics.
Yadav, who bagged the Olympic quota with a second-place finish at the 14th Asian Championships in Doha in 2019, led the pack after first 20 targets with a score of 14. She was followed by Bhaker at second with 13.
Then, the shooter from Bhopal led with a score of 21 and pulled away from the rest, even as the seasoned Sarnobat clawed her way back into the finals after struggling in bottom half.
In the finals, Yadav shot all the five targets twice – in the first competition stage’s second series and the sixth series of the elimination stage – after beginning with two.
“I have trained in advance for tie shoots in final, I just had to do my best, not think who is in competition with me and which level they are in,” Yadav said, according to PTI.
Sarnobat, the most experienced of the three, had a five out of five in the third series of the first stage before shooting four targets thrice in the fourth, seventh and ninth series in elimination. The third ranked Bhaker had only one five out of five, in the fourth series.
Earlier in qualification, Sarnobat topped the chart with 581 points while Yadav w as a step behind on 580 and Bhaker qualified in fourth place with 576 points.
Also on Wednesday, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, who is Tokyo Olympics quota holder, claimed the gold medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event, consolidating the India’s top position at the season-opening rifle and pistol World Cup.
The country’s overall tally swelled to 19 with nine gold, five silver and as many bronze medals.
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