Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The shooting range in Bhopal was echoed with the chants of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” on Thursday when India and China were engaged in a ding-dong battle for superiority in10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event of International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol Bhopal on Thursday.
Chinese team won the gold medal. Yet, Indian team made them sweat to win even a single point.
China won both the gold medals on competition day two of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol Bhopal, even as India picked up a silver and bronze.
Reigning men’s 10m Air Rifle world champion Rudrankksh Patil and R. Narmada Nithin won bronze in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team competition while in the day’s second event, Varun Tomar and Rhythm Sangwan won silver to bolster India’s medal haul to one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
China on the other hand lead the standings with three gold and two bronze medals, with Azerbaijan, Germany and Hungary winning a silver medal each thus far.
Both the pairs did not shoot a single shot below the 10-mark in what was Shooting of the highest order. The high-point came in the sixth series when both Rudrankksh and Narmada shot perfect 10.9s.
Speaking after the match Narmada said, “There was pressure obviously, but then we had a really good match- the competition was so good and we quite enjoyed it.” Rudrankksh said there was no lack of motivation even if they did not win gold. “We were just asked to focus on our process and if we would have got Gold we would have been motivated but the bronze motivates us even more to do better next time," he said.
Varun wins his second medal in Bhopal
In the initial stages of the final, it looked as if the Chinese pair would run away with it, but the Indians made a strong comeback, going from 15-7 to 15-11 before the Chinese clinched the 15th series to seal gold.
Competition day three
Competition day three Friday again has two finals on schedule. The 10m Air Rifle Men final begins at 11.15am, while the 10m Air Rifle Women final is slated for 1.30pm. Qualifications begin from 9.00am.
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