At the ISSF World Cup 2023, the pair of reigning world champion Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil and Narmada Nithin Raju topped the qualification round with a score of 635.8.
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India claimed two gold medals in the 10m air rifle and pistol mixed team events at the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Cairo on February 20, 2023. With this, India stands on top of the table with two golds and a silver as of now. In the mixed 10m air rifle, the pair of reigning world champion Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil and Narmada Nithin Raju topped the qualification round with a score of 635.8. In the gold medal match, they secured a comprehensive victory against Olympian Istvan Peni and Eszter Denes of Hungary by 16-6. Young Tilottama Sen and Hriday Hazarika, who made up the other India rifle team, came in just 0.1 points shy of qualifying for the bronze medal playoff.
In the mixed 10m air pistol, the team of Varun Tomar and Rhythm Sangwan earned the top spot in the qualification round with a total of 583 (17x). The pair maintained their strong performance in the gold medal match, defeating the Serbian team of Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec by 16-10. During the qualifications, Divya Subbaraju and Sarabjot Singh were comparably unlucky, finishing barely outside the top-four. Although both the Indian and French pairs had the same total (577), the latter went through due to 20 inner-10s compared to India’s 14.
This is Varun’s second medal, following his bronze medal in men’s 10m air pistol on Sunday. The 19-year-old Varun edged out compatriot Sarabjot Singh, who was initially equal at 250.6 after five series in the ranking stage, by collecting 0.2 more in the shootoff. In the shoot-off, Tomar scored a 10.3, while Sarabjot could only score a 10.1. Tomar placed second in the qualification round earlier in the day with a score of 583. Tomar finished only two points behind Slovakia’s Juraj Tuzinsky, who had 585 points. In addition, he was the youngest participant to make the top eight.
Read more: Shooting, Asian Airgun Championship 2022: Key Takeaways from India’s Successful Campaign
On Tuesday, the qualification rounds of 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men and the finals of the 10m air rifle men and women events are scheduled to commence. The likes of Anjum Moudgil, Manu Bhaker, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Divyansh Singh Panwar, Elavenil Valarivan and World champion Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil will be leading the Indian contingent. Around 340 shooters from 42 different nations are participating in the 30 events across individual and team disciplines.
Women: Nancy, Ramita, Tilottama Sen, Elavenil Valarivan, Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal, Esha Singh, Rhythm Sangwan, Divya Thadigol Subbaraju, Abhidnya Ashok Patil, Niveditha Veloor Nair, Ashi Chouksey, Manini Kaushik, Shriyanka Sadangi, Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil
Men: Shahu Tushar Mane, Divyansh Singh Panwar, Hriday Hazarika, Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil, Jain Vidit, Arjun Singh Cheema, Tinjit Dhanota, Sarabjot Singh, Varun Tomar, Anish, Bhavesh Shekhawat, Vijayveer Sidhu, Adarsh Singh, Harshit Binjwa, Swapnil Kusale, Akhil Sheoran, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Pankaj Mukheja
Read more: Indian Shooting Calendar 2022-23, Rifle/Pistol: Know all the important events
