New Delhi, Nov 8
Ravinder Singh ensured the best possible start for the Indian squad on competition Day One of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship Rifle/Pistol in Cairo, winning gold in the very first event of the championship (men's 50m pistol), before two-time Olympian and Asian champion Elavenil Valarivan clinched bronze, her first individual world's medal, in sensational fashion in the women's 10m air rifle final won by reigning Olympic champion Ban Hyojin of Korea.
Ravinder shot 569 in the men's free pistol to finish on top of the 47-man pile and also combined with Kamaljeet (540, 20th) and Yogesh Kumar (537, 24th) to win the team silver in the event. Ela shot a super 633.4 in the women's 10m air rifle qualification round to take the fifth qualifying spot, while Olympic and now world champion Ban took the eighth and final spot with a 633.0.
China's Han Jiayu, who Ban Hyojin dethroned from the world crown, topped qualification with a searing 635.1. Also making the finals was Wang Zifei, the world record holder from China, who would win silver eventually, according to information released by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Saturday.
Ela, as she did in Shymkent in the Asian Championships earlier this year, was in the zone from shot one of the final, opening with a 10.8.
With high scores coming from every lane, Ela did really well to be in fourth after the first two series of five shots, and as the single shots began, she moved into a joint-lead with Ban after the 14th shot.
With the race to 24 shots getting intense, Ela took the sole lead for the first time in the match with a bull's eye (10.9) on her 17th, but slipped to third with a 10.0 on her 19th. A 10.6 on her 20th confirmed the medal, and she would have to settle for it as Ban and Wang would only get stronger. The Koreans finished with 255.0, with the Chinese a point behind. "Definitely one of the most intense finals that I have ever been a part of," said the Indian after the final.
She would also win a second medal on the day, the women's 10m air rifle team bronze alongside Meghana Sajjanar (631.2, 17th) and Shreya Agrawal (628.7, 33rd).
Among other results of the day, Anish in the men's 25m rapid-fire pistol qualifications shot 291 in stage one, while Sameer shot 286, and Adarsh Singh shot 285. They come back on Sunday for stage two, with the top six going through to the medal round.
In the women's 50m pistol, Priyanka Patel was sixth with a score of 533, Sakshi Suryavanshi ninth with 532, and Parisha Gupta shot 531 for an 11th-place finish.
The men's 10m air rifle final is also slated for later in the day on Saturday, and Arjun Babuta looks favourite to make the eight-man cut at this stage, having shot 632.5 in the first qualification relay.
- IANS
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