Second gold for Bhaker.
India continued to bulge their medal tally on day three of the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun stage in Guadalajara, Mexico, as the duo – 16-year-old Manu Bhaker and Om Prakash Mitharval won Gold in the 10 M Air Pistol Mixed Team final.
In the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team final Deepak Kumar and Mehuli Ghosh won bronze, picking up India’s sixth medal at the event.
Once again it was 16-year-old sensation Manu Bhaker who shone, teaming up with Om Prakash Mitharval and overtaking their German rivals in the final phase of the match. The Indian team took gold with 476.1 points, 0.9 points ahead of Sandra and Christian Reitz, who claimed silver for Germany with 475.2.
Deepak Kumar and Ghosh won India a Bronze in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event.
The duo, competing as India 2, shot 435.1 in the five-team final, finishing behind the Romanian pair of Alin Moldoveanu and Laura-Georgeta Coman who shot 498.4 for Silver.
China’s Xu Hong and Chen Keduo won Gold in a world record score of 502.0.
The pair of Ravi Kumar and Apurvi Chandela, who competed as India 1, also made it to the finals and finished fourth on a score of 392.6, ahead of the second Chinese pair, who also made it to the finals.
It was Ghosh’s second medal of the competition after having won Bronze on the first day of competition, in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle.
Deepak Kumar also had luck smiling on him finally, after getting beaten by teammate Ravi in a shoot-off for the bronze in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle event on competition day two.
However, it was the pair of Chandela and Ravi Kumar who topped the qualification rounds among the 19 competing teams, shooting a combined total of 837.9, ahead of the Gold winning Chinese pair who shot 835.2.
Deepak Kumar and Mehuli Ghosh qualified in third place for the finals with a score of 834.3.
This was young Bhaker’s second gold medal.
Earlier, Bhaker beat the home favourite Alejandra Zavala, a two-time World Cup Finals winner, with a 10.8 in the last shot of the 24 shot final, to come out on top with a score of 237.5.
Zavala ended at 237.1 while Celine Goberville of France won the bronze with a score of 217.0.
An 11th standard student, Bhaker, who recently secured a quota place for the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games, won a sensational gold to continue India's surge in the season's first World Cup.
Earlier, Ravi Kumar won his first World Cup medal- a bronze in the Men s 10M Air Rifle event.
Ravi had made it to three finals last year, including in the World Cup Finals, without winning a medal.
He shot 226.4 and had to beat compatriot Deepak Kumar in a shoot-off for third and fourth spots in the final.
Talented young Hungarian Istvan Peni, the world number one, won the Gold, shooting 249.5 while Austria s Alexander Schmirl won Silver with 248.7.
Reacting after winning the medal, Manu Bhaker said, "I am extremely happy at winning Gold, especially as this is my first World Cup. I look forward to perform even better in upcoming competitions." Commenting on India's start to the new season, National Rifle Association of India president Raninder Singh said, This is a dream start. The young guns and future of Indian shooting are firing on all cylinders and let us only hope that these are signs of even better things to come in the near future.
"Manu showed excellent composure for one so young and Ravi s consistency over the past year or so has also been heartening to watch. We are now hungry for more."
With inputs from PTI
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