Indian pistol ace Manu Bhaker, won India’s sixth medal at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) Rifle/Pistol World Cup competition in Bhopal, picking up a bronze in the 25m pistol for women at the MP State Shooting Academy range. China, however, continued to dominate the tournament, winning a sixth gold medal out of eight decided so far.
In the women’s 25m pistol, two Indian women made the qualifying round with Manu shooting a solid 294 in the rapid fire second leg to finish in third place with a score of 584. Esha Singh finished seventh with a score of 581. Both Indians met in the first qualifying match together from which eventual gold medalist Doreen Vennekamp of Germany and Manu qualified for the medal match with 14 hits each of 20. Esha finished third with 11 hits while Zavala of Mexico he was fourth with 10 hits.
Two Chinese shooters, Xiong Yaxuan and eventual silver medalist Du Ziyue, came out of the other qualifying match with 12 hits each, as the Korean and Singaporean shooters were knocked out. In the medal match, where the fourth shooter is eliminated after the first four five-shot series, Xiong retired with 12 hits, confirming Manu’s medal. Doreen was leading at that stage with 16 hits, while both Manu and Ziyue were tied with 14 hits each.
The Indian fought hard thereafter, but her opponents did not waver, which meant Manu took the bronze medal after the sixth series with 20 hits to his name. Doreen finished with 30 hits at the end of 40 shots to Ziyue’s 29. This was the German’s second medal in Bhopal, after winning silver in the women’s 10m air pistol earlier.
take ends fourth
Another Indian in the fray, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, narrowly missed out on a medal, with a poor final series of five shots in the 50m air rifle 3 position event sending him down to fourth place. He previously had topped the qualifying round, but fell just short in the final.
Tomar entered the final five shots out of 40 allotted in third place, but was outpaced by Swiss Jan Lochbihler, who finished with a score of 407.4. Tomar, who had three heats with scores in the 40s in the standing section of the competition, lamented his inconsistency in finishing with a score of 405.5.
The Indian challenge in Bhopal continues on Sunday with Anish Bhanwala scheduled to compete in the men’s rapid fire pistol event.
