New Delhi : India’s women pistol shooters have made it five golds out of five, after the trio of Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan trounced the hosts 16-2 in the 25m Pistol Team final at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, on Tuesday.
India also picked up a silver medal in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) Mixed Team competition when Pankaj Mukheja and Sift Kaur Samra went down 12-16 to Poland’s Michal Chojnowski and Julia Piotrowska in the gold medal encounter.
India’s medal tally has now swollen to 11 gold, 13 silver and four bronze medals. With India set to emerge champions, Italy lying second with four golds and with Shotgun events still left on the roster, will look to close down the gap at the top.
The Indian women’s pistol team reached the gold medal round, finishing second to the German trio of Michaela Boesel, Vanessa Seeger and Mia Fuchs in the second qualification stage. The Indians shot 431 to the Germans 437 out of a maximum possible 450. In the final though, India did not give the hosts a whiff of a chance and finished the match quite clinically in the end.
Pankaj and Sift were fourth in the first qualification round and then second in the second, to make it to the gold medal round in the 3P Mixed Team event. They did put up a fight, but the Polish pair finished stronger to win the second gold for their country in the competition.
Parinaaz Dhariwal has also made it through to the semifinal stage of the Junior Women’s Skeet finishing fourth with a score of 109 in qualification. The medal matches are set for later on Tuesday.
–IANS