ISSF World Cup: Gold rush continues for India but Olympic quota eludes host

New Delhi: A 16th Olympic quota eluded India but the gold rush continued unabated as the host nation consolidated its top position in the pecking order with two more yellow metals in the ISSF shooting World Cup here on Friday. India leads the chart with 25 medals, including 12 gold, seven silver and six bronze.

On Friday, the seasoned duo of Sanjeev Rajput and Tejaswini Sawant began the day on a rousing note, winning the gold in the 50m rifle 3 positions mixed team event by beating Ukraine's Serhiy Kulish and Anna Ilina 31-29.

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Sunidhi Chauhan won the bronze medal after getting the better of USA's Timothy Sherry and Virginia Thrasher 31-15 at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. Then, the troika of Niraj Kumar, Swapnil Kusale and Chain Singh claimed gold in the 50m rifle 3 positions men's team event, comfortably getting the better of USA 47-25 in the final.

Vijayveer Sidhu, 18, settled for the silver medal behind Estonia's Peeter Olesk in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol final, a result not good enough to secure a quota place for the Tokyo Olympics as it was only reserved for the gold-medallist.

The lone Indian in the trap final among both men and women, Kynan Chenai, finished in fourth place with 27 hits after suffering an equipment malfunction, dashing his hopes of securing a quota.

In the women's qualifications, Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Shreyasi Singh was placed 10th, Manisha Keer was 12th and Rajeshwari Kumari 13th, while Prithviraj Tondaiman was seventh and Lakshay 17th in men's section.