Shooting World Cup: Aishwary Pratap Tomar, Niraj Kumar Fail To Finish On Podium Despite Strong Showing
Luck continued to evade the Indian rifle shooters as, despite having two shooters in the men's 50m rifle 3-positions final, they once again returned empty-handed, leaving the country languishing in joint seventh place on the medals table with just a solitary silver at the ISSF World Cup.
Luck continued to evade the Indian rifle shooters as, despite having two shooters in the men's 50m rifle 3-positions final, they once again returned empty-handed, leaving the country languishing in joint seventh place on the medals table with just a solitary silver at the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) on Sunday. World championship silver medallist Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Asian Championships silver medallist Niraj Kumar both advanced to the eight-man final but failed to convert their strong qualification performances into podium finishes.
Aishwary ended sixth with 314.3, while Niraj finished seventh with 303.4.
China's Olympic champion Zhang Changhong produced a sensational performance to clinch the gold medal with a world record score of 363. Hungary's Istvan Peni took the silver, while Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) Matvei Potapov secured the bronze.
Earlier in qualification, Niraj delivered one of the best performances of the day, shooting an outstanding 595 to finish second, tied with Zhang on the same score but behind on countback.
Aishwary, despite not being at his fluent best, managed 589 to scrape into the final in eighth place.
The third Indian in the event, former world champion Rudrankksh Patil, shot 587 to finish 18th, missing out on the final by a comfortable margin.
With the rifle shooters unable to end India's medal drought, the hopes of adding to the tally now rest largely on the women's 25m pistol shooters.
Multiple Asian Games medallist Esha Singh put herself in a strong position by finishing third after the precision stage with a score of 293. Double Olympic bronze medallist Manu Bhaker was close behind in fifth with 292, leaving both well placed to qualify for Monday's final after the rapid-fire stage.
Veteran Rahi Sarnobat, the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games champion who has shown encouraging consistency since returning from prolonged health issues, scored 289 to be tied for 15th alongside three others. She remains within striking distance of the top eight and will need a strong rapid-fire round to book her place in the final.
India's only medal so far in the competition has come through Sainyam, who won silver in the women's 10m air pistol, underlining a disappointing campaign for a squad that had arrived in Germany with high expectations.
The Indian contingent had undergone an intensive high-performance training camp at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi before the World Cup, with 35 rifle, pistol and shotgun shooters preparing for what is the final major international event before the Asian Games later this year.
China continued its overwhelming dominance of the competition, swelling its tally to 13 medals -- six gold, three silver and four bronze. Germany and the United States are joint second with one gold and one silver each, while India remain tied for seventh alongside Japan, Spain and Hungary with a lone silver medal. PTI AM AM APS APS
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