ISSF World Cup: India rifle and pistol shooters end campaign with 4 medals

Indian rifle and pistol shooters finished the ISSF World Cup 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with four medals.

In the overall medals tally, India finished its campaign in second behind China with one gold, two silvers and one bronze.

On Thursday, Sarabjot Singh and Divya TS won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event, while Hriday Hazarika and Nancy Mandhotra took silver in the men's and women's 10m air rifle events, respectively.

Indian shooter Rhythm Sangwan managed to break a 29-year-old world record in the women's 25m pistol event at the ongoing ISSF World Cup 2023 for rifle and pistol shooters in Baku, Azerbaijan on Saturday.

Rhythm Sangwan registered a score of 595 in the qualification round which was more than the previous world record of 594, set by Bulgarian shooter Diana Iorgova in 1994.

The Indian shooter, however, failed to bag a medal and could only finish eighth in the finals.

India's Manini Kaushik made it to the medal round of the women's 50m rifle 3 positions event on the final day but finished sixth with 415.6 points. Seonaid McIntosh of the United Kingdom won gold with 467.0 points, while Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway took silver with 463.6 points. Lisa Mueller (448.9) of Germany took bronze.

Among the other Indian shooters competing in the women's 25m pistol event, Esha Singh (582) and Youth Olympic Games gold medallist Manu Bhaker (578) failed to progress beyond the qualification round after finishing at the position of 15th and 33rd, respectively. Meanwhile, the men's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) event saw Indian shooters disappoint as they failed to make it past the qualifying round.

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar finished 12th with a score of 586 while Akhil Sheoran (585) and Swapnil Kusale (583) finished 15th and 26th, respectively. Pankaj Mukheja was shooting for ranking points.

As of now, India's medals tally at the Baku stands at four. On Friday, Hriday Hazarika and Nancy Mandhotra bagged silver medals in the men's and women's 10m air rifle events, respectively, while Sarabjot Singh and Divya TS combined to win a gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event on Thursday.

The ongoing event in the capital of Azerbaijan is the penultimate stage of the ISSF World Cup for rifle and pistol shooters. The final stage will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil before the ISSF World Championships in November at Doha.