Suruchi, Saurabh pair strike gold as a team in Lima

Lima, April 17: The pair of Suruchi and Saurabh Chaudhary struck gold at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun in Lima, Peru, winning the 10m air pistol mixed team title 17-9 over the Chinese pairing of Yao Qianxun and Hu Kai. It was the teenager Suruchi's third ISSF World Cup gold and Saurabh's ninth, including his fifth mixed team gold to go with a mixed team World Cup silver.

The pair made the gold medal match at the Las Palmas range with a combined 580 in qualification, with Suruchi outscoring Saurabh by a couple of points. The Chinese pair topped with 585.

In the decider as well, the Chinese pair got a head-start shooting off to a 2-6 and 4-8 advantage, before a timeout called by coach Samaresh Jung brought a change in the momentum of the match.

Suruchi shot splendidly throughout and the couple of times she missed the 10-ring, her Tokyo Olympian partner made up with high 10s including a 10.9 for his first hit of the match.

The pair regained the lead they had lost after the first series of single shots, in the 10th series, going ahead 11-9 after a tied eighth series had levelled the scores at 9-9. They did not look back thereafter and needed just the next three series to wrap up the win as the Chinese misfired first under pressure.

They did it in style too, closing out with 10.6 (Suruchi) and 10.5 (Saurabh) with both the Chinese failing to hit the 10-ring.

Earlier, the second Indian pair of Manu Bhaker and Ravinder Singh finished fourth, after going to the second Chinese pair of Zhang Yifan/Ma Qianke 6-16, in the bronze medal match. They were fourth in qualifying as well with a combined effort of 579.

Reader Comments

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Priya K.

What an incredible comeback! That timeout call by coach Jung was pure genius 👏 Suruchi and Saurabh showed nerves of steel under pressure. So proud of our Indian shooters!

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Rahul S.

That 10.9 from Saurabh must have been a confidence booster! These two make such a strong team. Though I wonder if they should work more on their qualifying scores - the Chinese pair had a 5-point lead initially.

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Anjali M.

Suruchi outscoring Saurabh in qualifications? That's impressive! She's proving to be one of our brightest young talents 💫

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Vikram J.

The way they closed the match with those perfect shots... chills! 🇮🇳 Our shooting contingent keeps making us proud at every tournament.

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Neha P.

Mixed team events are so exciting to watch! The pressure must be insane when your partner's performance affects yours too. Kudos to both pairs for such a thrilling final!

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