On a day the experienced campaigners failed to raise the bar, teenage shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker maintained their top form to qualify for the men’s 10m Air Pistol and women’s 25m pistol final respectively at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi on Sunday.
In qualification, Chaudhary shot 587 out of the possible 600 in the men’s 10 m air pistol to qualify third overall for the finals. The 16-year-old was the only Indian to reach the final in the category after Abhishek Verma and Ravinder Kumar slipped in the final series of their qualifying relay.
In the women’s 25 m rapid pistol event, Bhaker qualified for the final with a score of 590 while Rahi Sarnobat and Chinki Yadav failed to advance. Bhaker, who had scored 296 in the precision stage, was consistent in rapid as she shot three series of 98 to finish with 590 points. Hungary’s Veronika Major topped the standings with a total of 591.
Asian Games gold medallist Rahi missed out on the final by two points after finishing with a total of 580. She had a disappointing performance in precision stage on Saturday but was expected to recover in rapid. But two shots of 9 in the final two series hurt her as she finished with a qualification score of 580.
Another disappointment for India was Sanjeev Rajput and Parul Kumar in the men’s 50 m three position as both finished with a scores of 1170 and failed to qualify for the final.