World Cup Shooting: Gurpreet Fifth in Rapid Fire Pistol Final, Vijay Kumar Disappoints
Indians disappointed in World Cup shooting with no medals on Day 4. Gurpreet Singh's fifth position was the best effort on a low day.
Gurpreet Singh, who has already secured a Rio Olympics quota for India, showed great form to reach the finals of the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event on Day 4 at the ISSF World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan. In the six-man final however, Gurpreet appeared subdued, not once shooting a perfect series of 5 shots, to finish in fifth position.
The event saw yet another Chinese 1-2, with Hu Haozhe beating compatriot Lao Jiajie to the gold. Boris Artaud of France won the bronze medal. (Also Read: Prakash Nanjappa Wins India's Sixth Shooting Quota for Rio Olympics)
The other Indians in the Rapid Fire pistol event, London Olympic silver medalist Vijay Kumar and Pemba Tamang ended with scores of 573 and 563 to be placed 27th and 41st, respectively.
In other events, Indians disappointed. Gagan Narang and teammates Chain Singh and Surendra Sinh Rathod could not make it to the finals of the 50m Rifle Prone event. London Olympic bronze medallist Narang, who has also secured a quota for Rio, shot 623.6 to end 23rd, while Chain Singh finished in 29th position with a score of 622.9. Surendra Sinh Rathod shot 617.9 to place 53rd.
In the women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event, Lajja Gauswami was placed 13th in qualifying with a score of 577 while Elizabeth Susan Koshy lay 16th with 576. Anjum Moudgil, India's third entrant in the event ended her qualification round with a score of 572. She ended her day in 27th place.