ISSF World Cup 2022 Cairo | Indian shooters draw blank in 10m air rifle events
Shooter Shreya Agrawal narrowly missed qualifying for the semi-finals of the ISSF World Cup 10m air rifle event on Monday in Cairo, Egypt. She shot a total of 629.3 on the second day of the season's first ISSF World Cup for rifle and pistol shooters, 0.1 less than the eighth semi-finalist.
The top eight shooters in the 10m air rifle and 10m air pistol individual events qualify for the semi-finals instead of the finals, according to new rules implemented for the first time at the shooting World Cup in Cairo. The shooters are then divided into two groups of four. The top two athletes from each group advance to the gold medal match.
Aayushi Gupta and Rajshree Sancheti, the other two Indians in the 117-strong women's air rifle field, finished 37th and 54th, respectively, in the field. During the qualifying round, Aayushi Gupta shot 626.1 and Rajshree Sancheti shot 624.3.
On Monday, none of the three Indian men competing in the men's 10m air rifle event advanced past the quarterfinals. Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil finished 11th with a score of 628.5, Tokyo Olympian Divyansh Singh Panwar finished 25th with a score of 626.8, and Srinjoy Datta finished 82nd with a score of 616.6 among 103 competitors.
On Tuesday, India's men's and women's teams will compete in the 10m air pistol shooting events. Saurabh Chaudhary, along with Gaurav Rana and Sarabjot Singh, will lead the Indian challenge in the 10m air pistol shooting event. India's Esha Singh, Shri Nivetha, and Ruchita Vinerkar will compete in the women's event, hoping to place in the top eight and advance to the semi-finals.
The nine-day championship event features 24 Indians competing in individual and team medal events, but without reigning junior world champion Manu Bhaker.