Beijing: India drew blank on the final day but still topped the chart for the second consecutive ISSF World Cup, third time in two years, by bagging three gold and a silver at the Beijing edition of the Rifle/Pistol event here.
India topped the medals tally ahead of hosts China (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), who won five medals in total. In the last edition in New Delhi, India had jointly topped the standings with Hungary. For India, while Anjum Moudgil and young Divyansh Singh Panwar started the medal hunt with a gold in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team competition, the teenaged pair of Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary backed them up with another yellow metal in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Pistol event. Divyansh then won India’s first individual medal by clinching a silver in the men’s 10m Air Rifle. On Saturday, Abhishek Verma won India’s third gold in men’s 10m Air Pistol event. The concluding day of the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol Beijing 2019 edition however, belonged to two women legends of the sport, two-time former Olympic champion Maria Grozdeva of Bulgaria and Croatian Rifle legend Snjezana Pejcic, who won the two scheduled finals of the day, the 25m Pistol and the 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P). In the first final on Sunday, the 46-year old Maria, champion in the 25m Pistol at the Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2004 Olympics, shot 36 in the final to beat a couple of young rising stars — world number one Anna Korakaki of Greece and Veronika Major of Hungary, who was fresh from a double gold in the New Delhi World Cup. The Hungarian settled for silver while Anna was pushed to the bronze medal position. Maria along with Monika Karsch of Germany, who finished fourth, bagged the two Tokyo 2020 quota places up for grabs in the event. Indian interest in the event was limited to the qualifying stage of the competition. (PTI)
