NEW DELHI: India shooter Saurabh Chaudhary bagged silver medal while Abhishek Verma settles with the bronze in the Men’s 10M Air Pistol final of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun on Saturday here at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting range (DKSSR).
The other Indian in the final, Shahzar Rizvi, finished fifth.
Earlier in the day, Yashaswini Deswal bagged the first gold medal for India in the Women’s 10M Air Pistol final. She accumulated 238.8 points to lead in her category. Another Indian shooter Manu Bhaker won a silver medal with 236.7 points.
“I was trying to do my best. This was one of the two international competitions before the Olympics so I had to focus on my mental temperament and my technique. I was happy that the three of us were in the final and ultimately competition was with myself only because who can win with oneself can win against the world,” Deswal told reporters.
“See the situation is the same for everyone not just for me. The only thing I thought was my technique. It’s a work in progress. I did my best today and I will keep trying to do my best. It was low scoring final but I did my best. I will improve and all of us will. This medal will surely help to boost my morale and confidence,” she added.
The world number one shooter Divyansh Singh Panwar clinched the bronze medal in 10m Air Rifle (men’s category) and opened India’s medal account in the competition.
Divyansh shot 228.1 which got him the third position while Arjun Babuta finished at the fifth position, narrowly missing out on a medal. Lucas Kozeniesky of the USA won the gold medal while Hungarian shooter Istvan Peni took home silver in the mega event.
Divyansh was nervous ahead of the final but with his coach’s help, the world number one opened clinched the first medal for the country in the competition.
“I am happy with this medal and I will work hard and try to get gold in the future. I was nervous when the final started. My heartbeat also was also high but the coach helped me during the event and I made my comeback,” Divyansh told reporters here.
“Usually final takes place on the same day of the event but this is the first time when final happened next day. But for me everything was fine as I slept well and there was no pressure at all,” he added. (Agency)