ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup 2019: Abhishek Verma clinches gold, Olympic quota
Catch all the LIVE updates and commentary from the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup 2019 in Beijing, China.
Published : Apr 27, 2019 07:00 IST
Good morning! Hello and welcome to Sportstar 's LIVE coverage of the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup 2019 in Beijing, China.
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ABHISHEK'S GOLDEN FEAT
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- Anjum Moudgil final MQS score in women's 50m Rifle 3 position is 1163.
- Sunidhi Chauhan finishes in 24th position. Her scores read Kneeling: 97, 98, 96, 97 (368); Prone: 98, 99, 98, 99 (394); Standing: 92, 97, 93, 92 (374). Chauhan's total score tallied up to 1156.
- Rahi Sarnobat finishes 25m Pistol Qualification: Precision with 288 points.
- Saurabh Chaudhary who made way for Verma to have a shot at the Olympic quota, himself finishes with 580 points in the MQS section. The cut-off is 563.
- Abhishek Verma enters the finals of the 10m Air Pistol, which starts at 10:40 AM IST. Will India bag another Olympic quota today?
Verma shoots 585-19x to climb to the fourth spot on the rankings table.
Meanwhile, Shahzar Rizvi (32nd) and Arjun Singh Cheema (54th) have been eliminated. Their scores were 576 and 571, respectively.
Daehun Park of Korea topped the qualification with a score of 586. - Gaayathri Nithyanadam finishes 15th on the 50m Rifle 3 Positions leaderboard with a total of 1167.
- Manu Bhaker shoots 291 in the 25m Pistol 'Precision' round to stay on the eighth spot as of now.
- 10m Air Pistol Men Qualification: The second round of the qualification is already underway and Abhishek Verma looks to be India's best bet in this event. The Asian Games bronze medallist has shot 97 and 96 in the first two series. Shahzar Rizvi , on the other hand, has shot 96, 97 and 95 in the first three series.
- 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women: Kajal Saini notches 378 in 'Kneeling' and '397' in Prone.
- Gaayathri stages a wonderful comeback in the Prone category. Her scorecard reads 399 (99, 100, 100 and 100), with the total being 783, as of now.
- 10m Air Pistol Men: ELIMINATED! Arjun Singh Cheema scores 571 to take the 25th position on the table after Relay 1.
- Chinki Yadav shoots 94, 97 and 93 to complete the 25m Pistol Precision stage with a score of 284.
- Gaayathri Nithyanadam is done with the 'Kneeling' round in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions event. She scores a total of 384 points from the four series (94, 97, 96 and 97)
- Arjun Singh Cheema starts off by shooting 96, 94 and 93 in the first three series of the 10m Air Pistol.
10m Air Pistol Men: Arjun Singh Cheema, Shahzar Rizvi, Abhishek Verma and Saurabh Chaudhary (MQS)
50m Rifle 3 Positions Women: Kajal Saini, Gaayathri Nithyanadam and Anjum Moudgil (MQS)
2 5m Pistol Women Precision Stage: Chinki Yadav, Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat and Yashaswini Singh Deswal (MQS)
In men’s air pistol, Saurabh Chaudhary has been fielded in the MQS event to enhance the chances of a second Indian winning the Olympic quota. The onus will thus be on World Cup gold medallist Shahzar Rizvi, Asian Games bronze medallist Abhishek Verma and World Junior champion Arjun Singh Cheema to capitalise on the opportunity. Gaayathri Nithyanandam, Sunidhi Chauhan and Kajal Saini too will try to prove that it is a fair decision to field the World record holder Anjum Moudgil in the MQS section in the event, so as to help the team strike further Olympic quota.
Highlights of Day 4:Divyansh Singh Panwar missed the gold by 0.4 point in men’s air rifle, but grasped the much elusive Olympic quota place in the shooting World Cup in Beijing, on Friday. Bristling with confidence after having won the mixed air rifle gold in partnership with Anjum Moudgil a day earlier, the 16-year-old Divyansh, a student of Maheshwari Public School in Jaipur, was brilliant in the individual event, to secure the country’s fourth Olympic quota for Tokyo 2020. Anjum Moudgil, Apurvi Chandela had won the air rifle Olympic quota in the World Championship last year, while Saurabh Chaudhary had won the air pistol Olympic quota at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Delhi, in February. Qualifying in the third place with 629.2, Divyansh was highly accurate in the final in which he shot 10.1 or better with 23 of the 24 shots. A 9.5 on the 14th shot possibly made the difference as he missed the gold. The medals did not matter as much as the Olympic quota and it was a relief for the Indian camp to add one to the collection, as it would ensure a mixed air rifle entry as well, for Tokyo. Ravi Kumar had won he Asian Games mixed bronze with Apurvi Chandela and Deepak Kumar, the Asian Games silver medallist, placed 44th and 57th respectively. Another bright junior who is versatile in a string of pistol events, the 17-year-old Adarsh Singh shot 583 in rapid fire pistol and missed the final by two points. After an average of 98.5 in the eight-second and six-second series scores of 94 and 95 in the 4-second series saw Adarsh miss the final. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anish Bhanwala (578) and Arpit Goel (575) were not at their best, especially in the 4-second series, and were placed 22nd and 29th respectively. Whle Lin Junmin of China won the gold with 35 hits in the final, the qualification topper Oliver Geis (589) of Germany won the silver and secured the Olympic quota place. The fifth and sixth placed shooters Henry Turner Leverett of the US and Oleksandr Petriv of Ukraine also won the Olympic quota in the event. It may be noted that three Olympic quota places have been assigned for the rapid fire pistol event in the Beijing and Munich World Cups, as against the usual norm of two, to compensate for the two quota places withheld in the Delhi World Cup, at the behest of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The results: 25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Lin Junmin (Chn) 35 (587); 2. Oliver Geis (Ger) 31 (589); 3. Jean Quiquampoix (Fra) 27 (587); 10. Adarsh Singh 583; 22. Anish Bhanwala 578; 29. Arpit Goel 575. MQS: Bhavesh Shekhawat 576. 10m air rifle: 1. Hui Zicheng (Chn) 249.4 (627.5); 2. Divyansh Singh Panwar 249.0 (629.2); 3. Grigorii Shamakov (Rus) 227.5 (628.9); 44. Ravi Kumar 624.1; 57. Deepak Kumar 622.6. MQS: Tejas Krishna Prasad 620.7. |
Here is a rundown of Saturday's events:
| Time (in IST) | Event |
| 06:30 AM - 07:45 AM | 10m Air Pistol Men Relay 1 |
| 06:30 AM - 09:15 AM | 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women Elimination 1 |
| 06:30 AM - 11:00 AM | 2 5m Pistol Women Precision Stage |
| 08:30 AM - 09:45 AM | 10m Air Pistol Men Relay 2 |
| 10:05 AM - 12:50 PM | 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women Elimination 2 |
| 10:40 AM | Final 10m Air Pistol Men |
A look at how things stood ahead of the Beijing World Cup:
A 28-member Indian team will aim to add to the three Olympic quota places won so far, in the World Cup starting in Beijing on Tuesday.
The young Saurabh Chaudhary -- the Asian Games air pistol champion, Youth Olympics champion and the World Junior champion -- was the only one to win the Olympic quota in the World Cup at home in February.
Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela had won the quota in women’s air rifle in the World Championship last year.
The opening day’s competition will feature women’s air rifle, which would only add to the competitive exposure for Anjum, Apurvi, Elavenil Valarivan, and the MQS shooter Mehuli Ghosh, as a country cannot win more than two Olympic quota in any event.
READ: Olympic quotas reallocated to World Cups in Beijing, Munich
The focus from the Indian perspective will thus be on Wednesday, when there will be women’s air pistol and men’s 50-metre rifle 3-position finals.
Manu Bhaker will be the one to watch, as the 12th standard student is No.1 in both air pistol and the 25-metre sports pistol. With two-time Olympian and former World record holder Heena Sidhu, apart from Yashaswini Deswal in the line up, India has a realistic chance of striking it hot in women’s air pistol.
Olympians Sanjeev Rajput and Chain Singh apart from Parul Kumar will attempt to make the rifle 3-position event memorable.
The mixed air rifle and air pistol finals will be held on Thursday, giving a chance for the Indian shooters to be better prepared for the new Olympic event, even though there will be no Olympic quota available.
Ravi Kumar, Deepak Kumar and Divyansh Singh Panwar will be in line to win the Olympic quota place in men’s air rifle, on Friday.
More significantly, the 25-metre rapid fire pistol shooters will have a better chance for Olympic quota as three will be on offer, unlike two in all other events.
It may be recalled that the rapid fire pistol quota places were withheld in the Delhi World Cup, as visa for two Pakistani rapid fire pistol shooters had been denied. Those two quota places will be given one each additionally in the Beijing and Munich World Cups.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anish Bhanwala, along with Arpit Goel and Adarsh Singh will fight for the quota places in rapid fire.
In men’s air pistol, in which Saurabh Chaudhary will be fielded in the MQS event to enhance the chances of a second Indian winning the Olympic quota, the onus will be on World Cup gold medallist Shahzar Rizvi, Asian Games bronze medallist Abhishek Verma and World Junior champion Arjun Singh Cheema to capitalise on the opportunity.
The World Cup will close with the finals in women’s 25-metre sports pistol and the 50-metre rifle 3-position events on Sunday. Asian Games gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat, apart from Manu Bhaker and Chinki Yadav will be competing in the pistol event.
Gaayathri Nithyanandam, Sunidhi Chauhan and Kajal Saini will try to prove that it is a fair decision to field the World record holder Anjum Moudgil in the MQS section in the event, so as to help the team strike further Olympic quota.
The presence of a battery of coaches, Samaresh Jung, Ved Prakash, Pavel Smirnov, Randhir Singh, Manoj Kumar, Oleg Mikhailov, Deepali Deshpande, Jaspal Rana and Suma Shirur would mean that it will be difficult to blame the absence of coaches for unsatisfactory performance!