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Sanjeev Rajput, Chain Singh flop at the ISSF World Cup
Rajput, who had made the cut for the qualification by scoring 1171 in the elimination round on Tuesday, was off-colour, managing only 1145 to finish 58th among 60 shooters. Chain was 27th with 1165 while Parul was 33rd with 1164.
Indian shooters failed to make a mark at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing on Wednesday with Asian Games silver medallist Sanjeev Rajput, Chain Singh and Parul Kumar producing sub-par performances in the 50m rifle 3-position event.
Rajput, who had made the cut for the qualification by scoring 1171 in the elimination round on Tuesday, was off-colour, managing only 1145 to finish 58th among 60 shooters. Chain was 27th with 1165 while Parul was 33rd with 1164.
India’s air pistol sensation Manu Bhaker failed to make it to the finals, finishing 17th with a score of 575 in the qualification round while her compatriots Heena Sidhu and Yashaswini Deswal finished 26th and 10th, scoring 572 and 577, respectively.
This being a 2020 Olympics qualification event, Manu and Heena were expected to secure a quota place for the country but will now have to try their luck at the next World Cup in Munich from May 24.
So far, three Indians, rifle shooters Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil, and pistol marksman Saurabh Chaudhary, have earned Olympic quota places. With Wednesday’s disappointing show, all eyes will be on the men’s 10m air pistol event on April 27.
India has fielded three shooters — Arjun Singh Cheema, Shahzar Rizvi and Abhishek Verma — in a bid to secure an Olympic quota place. Saurabh, the other entry, will compete in the MQS (minimum qualification score) category and thus will not be in medal contention even if he shoots the best score.
Back home, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) tweeted that India had won the team gold in women’s 10m air rifle. However, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) clarified that “there are no team events in World Cups, only individual events”.
“A great start for India at the ISSF Rifle & Pistol World Cup in Beijing as the team of @apurvichandela, @anjum_moudgil & @elavalarivan win gold in the women’s 10m air rifle team event with a score of 1887.2,” SAI had tweeted.
