Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar came up with a dominant performance in clinching the men’s 50-metre rifle 3-position gold in the shooting World Cup in Changwon, Korea, on Saturday.
After qualifying in style with 593 out of 600, which was four points better than the next best score, the 21-year-old Indian topped the ranking round with 409.8, a total that was 3.1 points better than the silver medallist Zalan Pekler of Hungary.
In the gold contest, Aishwary led 12-4 before the Pekler bridged the gap to 14-12 before Aishwary scored 10.1 to 9.6 by the Hungarian to seal victory.
It was the second gold in a World Cup for Aishwary, after the one in Delhi last year. Aishwary is also the reigning World junior champion in the event.
Of course, it is a new format now, with qualification reduced to 60 shots from 120 earlier. Aishwary was pretty sharp in qualification with 200 each in kneeling and prone, before winding up with 193 in the standing position.
In the women’s 25-metre sports pistol, Manu Bhaker finished fourth after a strong performance in the second stage of competition.
The Singaporeans, Xiu Hong Teh and Shun Xie Teo, took gold and bronze respectively, while Mathilde Lamolle of France bagged the silver.
India continued to stay on top of the medals table with four gold, four silver and a bronze medal. Host Korea was second with three gold and a silver, while Serbia followed with three gold medals. Australia with two gold and three silver, and China with two gold, a silver and three bronze medals, were fourth and fifth respectively.
The results:
25m sports pistol: Women: 1. Xiu Hong Teh (Sgp) 28 (14) 587; 2. Mathilde Lamolle (Fra) 21 (14) 580; 3. Shun Xie Teo (Sgp) 19 (15) 581; 4. Manu Bhaker 9 (18) 581; 14. Rhythm Sangwan 577.
50m rifle 3-position: Men: 1. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 16 (409.8) 593; 2. Zalan Pekler (hun) 12 (406.7) 589; 3. Istvan Peni (Hun) 406.4 (589); 7. Chain Singh 301.1 (586); 40. Sanjeev Rajput 577.
