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Sonam's Fighting Fifth Caps India's ISSF World Cup Campaign with One Gold

Sonam Uttam Maskar put up a valiant fight but finished fifth in the women's 10m air rifle final at the ISSF World Cup in Granada. India concluded their campaign with a tally of one gold medal, secured by the 10m air pistol mixed team of Mukesh Nelavalli and Palak on the opening day. The team made seven finals but could not add to the lone gold, with China dominating the leaderboard. Sonam's campaign included a strong qualification and a crucial perfect 10.9 in the final, but she ultimately fell short of the podium.

Key Points: ISSF World Cup: India's Campaign Ends with One Gold in Granada

  • Sonam Maskar finishes 5th in 10m air rifle final
  • India's campaign ends with one gold medal
  • Mukesh Nelavalli & Palak won 10m air pistol gold
  • China tops medal tally with 8 golds
2 min read

ISSF World Cup: Sonam finishes fighting fifth as Indian conclude campaign with one gold

Sonam Maskar finishes 5th in women's 10m air rifle as India concludes ISSF World Cup in Spain with one gold medal won by Mukesh and Palak.

"She did well to save herself from elimination thrice, a perfect 10.9 on her 14th being the high point of her fight. - Report"

New Delhi, Apr 12

Sonam Uttam Maskar finished a fighting fifth in the women's 10m air rifle final as India concluded their International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup Rifle/Pistol campaign in Granada, Spain, with a tally of one gold medal.

Sonam shot 188.5 to bow out after the 18th shot of the 24-shot final, 0.8 behind her nearest rivals at that stage, among them world number one and eventual gold medalist Wang Zifei of China who finished with 252.9 points. Women's 3P world champion Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway won silver with 252.4, while former air rifle world champion Han Jiayu of China won bronze with 231.5.

India, who had majorly fielded shooters ranked between 4-6 in the domestic rankings in the year's opening world cup leg, made as many as seven finals, but only the 10m air pistol pairing of Mukesh Nelavalli and Palak shot gold on the opening day of competitions. They finished third on the leaderboard with China topping it with eight golds and 13 medals.

Sonam had shot 632.8 in the first qualification relay of the women's 10m air rifle to qualify in seventh place for the final. Mehuli Ghosh with a 627.3 placed 44th and Shruti, the third Indian in the field, shot 624.8 to take 63rd place in the 91-strong field.

As far as RPO (ranking points only) shooters were concerned, Narmada Nithin Raju shot 629.0 while Rajshree Sancheti shot 628.1.

Sonam, began the final with a strong 10.6 but followed that up with a 9.8, which could have eventually cost her a podium finish in the end calculations given the high quality final.

She did well to save herself from elimination thrice, a perfect 10.9 on her 14th being the high point of her fight. In the end, Sonam, seeking a second world cup individual medal, left too much to recover and despite a 10.5 to close, fell short.

Earlier in the first event of the day, Niraj Kumar shot 589 in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) qualification round, while Akhil Sheoran shot 588 to finish 15th and 22nd respectively. Chain Singh had been unable to make it past elimination on Saturday itself.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
Only one gold medal? That's a bit disappointing for a World Cup campaign. With so many finals made (7!), we should have converted more. The article says we fielded domestic 4-6 ranked shooters... maybe we need to send our absolute top rankers to these events to build confidence for bigger tournaments.
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Aman W
China topping with 8 golds shows the gap. But kudos to Mukesh and Palak for getting us that gold! Sonam was so close. That initial 9.8 after a 10.6 probably haunted her. In shooting, every single shot counts. The pressure must be insane.
S
Sarah B
Interesting to see the strategy of sending shooters ranked 4-6 domestically. It's good for building depth and giving experience to the next line, even if the medal tally suffers short-term. Long game for Paris 2024?
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Karthik V
Proud of the team! Making seven finals is not a small feat. The article mentions "ranking points only" shooters too. The system seems complex, but the exposure is valuable. Let's support them as they build towards the Olympics. Jai Hind!
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Nisha Z
Sonam fought hard! Finishing 5th among the world's best is something. We always focus on gold or nothing, but progress is step by step. Hope she learns from this and comes back stronger. More power to our shooting contingent! 💪

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