Manavjit Sandhu Shoots World Cup Bronze But Misses Rio Olympics Quota
With back-to-back shoot-offs, Manavjit Sandhu had a tough time at the World Cup in Mexico. But held his nerves to win bronze.
Former world champion Manavjit Sandhu missed out on an Olympic Quota place by a whisker even as he claimed India's first podium finish with a bronze medal at the 2015 World Cup Shotgun Championships at Acapulco, Mexico. The veteran shooter was involved in an exciting final round match up with the world's best Trap shooters before settling for third place in the event, which offered two quota positions for next year's Rio Olympics.
Manavjit, who entered the Bronze medal match after winning the slot through a shoot-off in the semifinal qualification along with Portuguese Joao Azevedo, had to endure yet another shoot-off after both he and his Portuguese rival shot an identical 12 targets out of 15. It was in this second shoot-off that the veteran emerged victorious accounting for 3 targets out of 5 to Joao's 2 on target.
Massimo Fabbrizi of Italy, who shot 12 targets in the finals as opposed to 13 in the semi-final round, won the gold. The silver went to famed Australian shooter Michael Diamond, who shot 11 targets in the final round. The first and second positions won their respective Olympic quota places from the tournament.