India win gold in both men, women air pistol team event

New Delhi: Indian pistol shooters gave a good account of themselves as they took the gold medal tally to three by winning both men and women's 10m air pistol team events on the second day of the World Cup at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges on Sunday.

The national team consisting of Yashaswini Singh, Manu Bhaker and Shri Nivetha Paramanantham defeated Poland 16-8 to win gold in the women's 10m air pistol team event.

After an outstanding performance by the women's team, the men's team also stayed on the right track and beat Vietnam 17-11 to win the gold in the 10m air pistol event. Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma and Shahzar Rizvi were the members of the gold-winning team.

Earlier, the Indian men's 10m air rifle team had to settle for silver as they lost 14-16 to the USA. Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar, Deepak Kumar and Pankaj Kumar won the team silver. In the bronze medal match, Korea beat Iran 17-15.

The Indian women's team, comprising Shriyanka Sadangi, Nisha Kanwar and Apurvi Chandela, finished fourth in the 10m air rifle event.

By winning two gold and one silver on Sunday, India's medal tally has swelled to eight, including three gold and three silver medals. On Saturday, Yashaswini had won individual gold in the women's 10m air pistol event. On Saturday, the 23-year-old Deswal won the individual gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle event ahead of compatriot Bhaker, who settled for silver.

Chaudhary and Verma claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively in the men's individual 10m air pistol final. A total of 294 shooters from as many as 53 countries, including Korea, Singapore, USA, United Kingdom, Iran, Ukraine, France, Hungary, Italy, Thailand and Turkey, are participating in the tournament.

Sekhon bags bronze in women's skeet:

Young Indian shooter Ganemat Sekhon on Sunday won her maiden senior ISSF World Cup medal when she bagged the women's skeet bronze on the third competition day of the tournament.

The 20-year-old, ranked 82 in the world, shot 40 to clinch the bronze medal on the shotgun range of the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.

The other Indian in the six-women final, Karttiki Singh Shaktawat, settled for the fourth position after an impressive start, shooting 32.

Occupying the second position for a long time, Sekhon missed three birds successively to bow out, leaving Great Britain's Amber Hill and Zoya Kravchenko of Kazakhstan to fight for the gold medal in an exciting final where nobody was willing to give an inch. Hill held her nerves to eventually run away with the gold medal after a shoot-off with Kravchenko.

It was a good learning experience for the 19-year-old Shaktawat as she looks to grow in the sport.

Ganemat was third in the qualification with 117, while Shaktawat was fourth

with 116. India's Parinaaz Dhaliwal was ninth

with 108. (IANS/PTI)