ISSF World Cup | Anish Bhanwala bags bronze in 25m rapid-fire pistol event, India goes top in medals tally
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(NRAI)
Anish Bhanwala, a medalist from the CWG 2018, took home the bronze in the men's 25m rapid-fire pistol on the last day of the ISSF World Cup 2023 in Cairo on Thursday. Bhanwala finished third in the four-man medal match with a total of 21 points after six sets.
German competitor Christian Reitz also advanced to the medal round but lost with the lowest score of 13 points at the conclusion of the fourth series. After playing till the eighth series, Massimo Spinella of Italy defeated Clement Bessaguet of France 32-30 to win the gold medal, with Bessaguet settling for the silver.  Â
In the rifle and pistol shooting disciplines, the Indian shooting team finished the Cairo competition with a hefty haul of four gold and three bronze medals. India beat Hungary, who earned two gold and one silver medal, to the most medals in the shooting World Cup with seven. Italy placed third on the table with one gold and one silver.
Anish Bhanwala was the only Indian to advance to the eight-man ranking round on that particular day, finishing seventh in the qualification round with 581 points. Arpit Goel (572 points) and Adarsh Singh (570 points) finished 22nd and 26th, respectively, in the shooting competition for ranking points alone (RPO).
In the field of 41 contestants, Bhavesh Shekhawat (569 points) and Ankur Goel (569 points) placed 27th and 28th, respectively. None of India's five shooters in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions advanced past the top eight from the 69-woman qualification round.
Manini Kaushik (584 points), who ended 22nd, was followed by Sift Kaur Samra (585 points), who placed 16th overall. Anjum Moudgil, an Olympian, placed 27th with 583 points. Competing for RPO, Ashi Chouksey (579 points) and Shriyanka Sadangi (579 points) placed 45th and 46th, respectively.
Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil and Narmada Raju, an Indian mixed 10m air rifle pair, and Varun Tomar and Rhythm Sangwan, an Indian mixed 10m air pistol duo, both won gold medals earlier in the ISSF World Cup, vaulting India to the top of the medals table.
Rudrankksh Balasaheb, who won the individual gold medal in the men's 10m air rifle event at the same site previous year, also won the world championship in same event. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, an Olympian, took home the gold medal in the men's 50-meter rifle three places.
The second World Cup of the year for pistol and rifle shooters was the ISSF World Cup 2023 in Cairo. India's Bhopal will host the third stage between March 20 and March 31.
Indian medal winners
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions) - Gold medal
Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil (men’s 10m air rifle) - Gold medal
Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil/Narmada Raju (10m air rifle mixed team) - Gold medal
Varun Tomar/Rhythm Sangwan (10m air pistol mixed team) - Gold medal
Varun Tomar (men’s 10m air pistol) - Bronze medal
Tilottama Sen (women’s 10m air rifle) - Bronze medal
Anish Bhanwala (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol) - Bronze medal
