Ningbo (China), Sep 12: India’s Bhavesh Shekhawat produced a strong performance on competition day four of the ISSF World Cup for rifle/pistol, finishing fourth in the first stage of the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol qualification here on Friday.
Bhavesh thus remains in contention for a place in the finals, but, in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions, the Indian challenge fell short with none of the shooters making it to the final round.
In the RPF event, Bhavesh shot a composed 293-9x with series of 97, 99, and 97 to be placed third overnight.
Germany’s Emanuel Mueller leads the field with 295-12x, followed by France’s Clement Bessaguet with 294-11x. Among other Indians, Pradeep Singh Shekhawat is placed 24th with 288-8x (98, 95, 95), while Mandeep Singh is 43rd with 272-5x (93, 91, 88).
In the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions final, world No.1 Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway clinched her second gold of the competition with a score of 466.2, having earlier won in the 10m air rifle mixed team.
Duestad, who has also claimed World Cup gold this year in Munich and silver in Lima, was followed by Denmark’s Rikki Maeng Ibsen with silver on 463.3 and Czechia’s Barbora Dubska, who secured bronze with 451.4.
For India, Mehuli Ghosh finished 23rd with a total of 583-23x (194 in kneeling, 196 in prone, 193 in standing), while Manini Kaushik shot 580-22x (191, 197, 192) for 45th place. (PTI)
