ISSF World Cup | Arjun Babuta and Paarth Makhija make the top 8 in the 10m rifle
(NRAI)
On the first day of the ISSF World Cup, two Indian shooters, Arjun Babuta and Paarth Makhija advanced to the top eight of the men's 10m air rifle category. Babuta finished second after shooting a 630.5 in the qualification stage, while Makhija came in fifth place with a score of 628.4 points.
Shahu Tushar Mane, the third Indian shooter in the mix, finished 30th with a score of 624.4. Sergey Richter, an Israeli air rifle veteran, won the competition with a score of 631.6. Other qualifiers included shooters from Australia, Austria, Korea, Thailand, and the United States, with Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Lucas Kozeniesky of the United States standing out.
Meanwhile, none of the Indian competitors made the cut in the women's 10m air rifle event. Mehuli Ghosh came the closest, losing a qualifying slot by 0.1 points. She finished 11th in the field with a score of 628.7. Given that the top two finishers were not competing for medals, Eszter Meszaros of Hungary took the eighth and last qualifying slot with a score of 628.8.
Ramita, a senior India rookie, finished 17th with a score of 627.4, while former world No. 1 and Olympian Elavenil Valarivan ended 24th with a score of 626.3. Monday's agenda is jam-packed, featuring trap and air pistol qualifiers, as well as the two air rifle finals. India has sent a 32-man squad to the Changwon World Cup, which has around 430 athletes from 44 countries. The ISSF World Cup Changwon 2022 concludes on July 21 with 30 gold medalists.
