CWG 2018 | Om Mitharval wins sixth bronze for India, finishes third in 50m Pistol

Om Mitharval started off the qualification stage on a high yet again as he topped the table with a score of 549-6x. His compatriot, Jitu Rai, however, had a bad day in the office as he finished sixth with a score of 542-8x, which would have been given enough indication for the rest of his course to come.

Jitu started the final with a meekly 7.2 score and Mitharval with 7.6 as all the other shooters were above 9. It was a huge blow and while Mitharval went on to improve from there, Jitu struggled to find consistency. Jitu ended the first stage with a score of 43.6 and could hardly make up for it. The first stage of the two-shot elimination round saw him ending with 105.0 and bowing out before anyone.

Mitharval was, however, flying high this time with a score of 111.3, with everyone hoping he would convert the medal chance into gold. Mitharval even led the table alongside local favorite Daniel Repacholi until the fifth elimination stage before everything went haywire. 

With Kristian Callaghan bowing out in the previous round, Bangladesh’s Shakil Ahmed was 3.3 score behind Mitharval and was rooting for a bronze. However, the Indian prodigy shockingly shot 7.2 and 7.6 in what proved to be his final round, which ended all his hopes of a top podium finish at once.  He could only score 14.8 with two shots that mattered the most, which set up Ahmed and Repacholi for the final.

In the final shootout, however, Repacholi was the undisputed winner as he created a Commonwealth Games record by scoring 227.2 to Ahmed’s 220.5. Mitharval ended with 201.1. India’s medal tally rises to 22 now.