Home / Other sports / Twitter reacts as Anish Bhanwala wins bronze medal..

Twitter reacts as Anish Bhanwala wins bronze medal at the ISSF World Cup Final 2023

Anish Bhanwala, in the qualifications, scored 292 (99, 98, 95) in Stage 1 and 289 (98, 99, 92) in Stage 2, and claimed the final qualifying spot.

By Abhiruchi Rout | Nov 25, 2023 | 2 Min Read

At the ISSF World Cup Final 2023, Indian shooter Anish Bhanwala clinched the nation’s first medal by earning bronze medal in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol event at the Lusail Shooting Range in Doha, Qatar. On Friday evening, Bhanwala exhibited his shooting prowess by scoring 27 hits in the final, trailing behind German ace Peter Florian, who bagged gold with 35 hits, and China’s world champion and two-time Olympic medalist Li Yuehong, who collected silver with 33 hits over eight series of rapid-fire shooting.

Anish Bhanwala, in the qualifications, scored 292 (99, 98, 95) in Stage 1 and 289 (98, 99, 92) in Stage 2, and claimed the final qualifying spot. With a total of 581, he edged past Germany’s renowned shooter Christian Reitz, who finished just one point behind, missing out on the final. The achievement adds to the 21-year-old’s impressive year, which included his first senior individual ISSF World Cup stage medal, a senior Asian Championships medal, and earning a quota place for the Paris Olympics 2024.

The final witnessed an early exit for China’s Jueming Zhang with 12 hits, followed by Clement Bessaguet who exited at 18 hits. However, Czech shooter Matej Rampula couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity, failing to score even one hit in the sixth series which guaranteed Bhanwala a medal. Anish, who was just two hits shy of the leading Chinese shooter, concluded his performance after the seventh series. Peter Florian’s consistent shooting included several perfect scores which led him to the gold medal.

How did other Indian shooters perform at the ISSF World Cup Final 2023?

However, the other Indian contingent faced challenges at the ISSF World Cup 2023, with Anish Bhanwala’s bronze being the only medal. The other Indian shooters fell short, with Sarabjot Singh ending ninth in qualifications, Divya TS finishing sixth in the final, Hriday Hazarika and Elavenil Valarivan placing seventh, and Ganemat Sekhon and Akhil Sheoran narrowly missing medals by finishing fifth in their respective finals.

India secured the fourth position in the overall medal tally with a total of 8 golds, 5 silvers, and 12 bronzes. China led the medal count with 18 golds, followed by the United States and Hungary, who amassed 20 and 17 golds respectively.