Beijing: Young Indian shooters dominated the mixed team competitions by winning two gold medals on day three of the ongoing ISSF World Cup to take the country on the top of medal tally here on Thursday.
The teenage pairing of Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary won their second gold in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event in as many World Cup stages this year while another teenager Divyansh Panwar struck gold in Air Rifle Mixed Team event partnering the more accomplished Anjum Moudgil to help cap a memorable day for India.
The start of the day was all about a new pair, a new format and a new result. Anjum partnered Divyansh, who was in only his second senior competition, for the first time to beat the formidable Chinese pair of Liu Ruxuan and Yang Haoran 17-15 in a pulsating gold medal match.
The win was even more creditable given that a new format was being tried by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) for the mixed events in Beijing. At one stage, it looked like the Chinese pair would pull through but the Indians came back admirably well to tie at 15 each, before winning the shoot-off tiebreaker under pressure to win a stunning gold. The second Indian team in the event, Apurvi Chandela and Deepak Kumar also reached the finals but finished sixth eventually. Then came the icing on the cake with Manu and Saurabh’s victory in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event.
The teenage stars comprehensively defeated yet another Chinese pair consisting of former Olympic champion Pang Wei and 2019 New Delhi World Cup finalist Jiang Ranxin, 16-6 in the gold medal match. Manu and Saurabh began from where they had left at the home World Cup in Delhi a couple of months back, beating top class opponents en route to the gold. (PTI)
