The reigning Olympic champion Christian Reitz of Germany beat the reigning World Champion Lin Junmin of China 35-31 in a spectacular final of men’s 25-metre rapid fire pistol in the ISSF World Cup, at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Tuesday.
With no Olympic quota places on offer in this particular event, following the direction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as two Pakistani rapid fire shooters were denied visa to compete here, there was some compensation for the host, as Anish Bhanwala made the final with an impressive 588 out of 600 in qualification.
Shooting World Cup, Day 4: Highlights
It was only the 12th gold among 27 medals in the World Cups for Reitz, who has also won two gold, three silver and a bronze, in the World Cup Finals. A former World champion, Reitz was a class act with breathtaking rounds of 3, 5, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 and 5 that brought the roof down in the final. Lin Junmin, the qualification topper with 592, had little to worry, as he had already won the Olympic quota place in the World Championship.
The 16-year-old Anish, the Commonwealth Games champion and junior World Champion in standard pistol, was overtaken in the highly competitive field, even though he did well to win the tie-shoot 4-3 to avoid the sixth spot against Clement Bessaguet of France.
The packed stands expected a medal from Anish, especially after the gold medals by Apurvi Chandela and Saurabh Chaudhary on the first two days. The young man kindled hopes by shooting a perfect 5 in the third series, after a slow start when he shot 3 each in the first two series of the final. Anish was unable to sustain his good work and rounds of 1 and 2 over the next two series, saw him losing progress towards medals by two points.
Read: Saurabh Chaudhary lone Indian to secure Olympic quota place
It was a brave effort by Anish to finish fifth, on a day when Manu Bhaker shot 573 and missed the final by one point in women’s air pistol. Olympian and former World record holder Heena Sidhu also grappled with her form and could muster only 571, while first time entrant Anuradha managed to shoot 572.
Veronika Major of Hungary added the air pistol gold to her sports pistol gold, but silver medallist Chia Ying Wu of Chinese Taipei had the consolation of winning the Olympic quota. Kim Bomi of Korea beat compatriot Kim Minjung for the bronze, but the latter grabbed the Olympic quota as Bomi had won it earlier.
There was a slender hope for the host in women’s 50-metre rifle 3-position but Gaayathri Nithyanandam (563) and Sunidhi Chauhan (1156) were unable to strike at their best.
Nina Christensen of Switzerland and Shi Mengyao of China grabbed the Olympic quota places along with the gold and silver medals respectively.
The results:
Men:
25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Chistian Reitz (Ger) 35 (588); 2. Lin Junmin (Chn) 31 (592); 3. Kim Junhong (Kor) 22 (589); 5. Anish Bhanwala 14 (588); 11. Adarsh Singh 581; 12. Arpit Goel 580. MQS: Gurpreet Singh 576; Bhavesh Shekhawat 567.
Women:
10m air pistol: 1. Veronika Major (Hun) 245.1 (575); 2. Chia Ying Wu (Tpe) 238.4 (582); 3. Kim Bomi (Kor) 218.3 (579); 14. Manu Bhaker 573; 22. Anuradha 571; 25. Heena Sidhu 571. MQS: P. Shri Nivetha 568; Shweta Singh 565.
50m rifle 3-position: 1. Nina Christen (Sui) 457.1 (1178); 2. Shi Mengyao (Chn) 456.6 (1172); 3. Yelizaveta Korol (Kaz) 445.7 (1171); 36. Gaayathri NIthyanandam 1163; 49. Sunidhi Chauhan 1156.
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