Shooting World Cup | Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary win gold, keep India atop in medal tally
After a medal-less Sunday, the star mixed team airing of Chaudhary and Bhaker managed to win gold in the Air Pistol event, which saw the duo coming from behind to best Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Abhishek Verma. India finished the World Cup with five gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
It was an all-Indian final event in Rio de Janiero as the 17-year-old pair won the event 17-15 in a nerve-wracking contest. The young duo had earlier shot 394 out of 400 in the second qualification round, which saw both scoring a whopping 100 each in the final 10-shot series that kept them at the top in the eight-team round. Yashaswini and Abhishek, who had also won the gold medals in their individual event, had to finish with 386.
It was a thrilling contest for the young pair were seen trailing first at 3-9, then 7-13, and then finally 9-15, before they turned things around to win the next four duels. Other favourable results, apart from them, saw India finish with nine medals in the World Cup and consequently finishing top across all four ISSF World Cup staged this year.
Barring Bhaker and Chaudhary, world number one in women’s 10m air rifle, Apurvi Chandela had earlier partnered with Deepak Kumar to win India’s fourth gold on the concluding day in the mixed air rifle event. Meanwhile, Anjum Moudgil and Divyansh Singh Panwar, who were representing India 2, clinched the bronze medal.
From the four ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup this year, India now have 22 medals, including an awe-inspiring 16 gold medals.
