Ravi Kumar misses medal by a whisker at Changwon World Cup

The CWG bronze medallist Ravi, 28, was placed fourth, despite a near-perfect 10.7 on the last two shots. Shots of 9.7 and 9.8 had taken the sting away from Ravi's challenge.

Shots of 9.7 and 9.8, on the 16th and 18th, had taken the sting away from Ravi Kumar’s challenge. (File Photo)

A consistently top class performance by Ravi Kumar proved inadequate, as he missed a medal, by 0.2 points, in men’s air rifle, in the shooting World Cup, in Changwon, Korea, on Sunday.

The Commonwealth Games (CWG) bronze medallist, the 28-year-old, Ravi, Ravi, 28, was placed fourth, despite a near-perfect 10.7 on the last two shots. Shots of 9.7 and 9.8, on the 16th and 18th, had taken the sting away from Ravi’s challenge.

Ravi had earlier qualified in second place, in a field of 92 shooters, with a total of 629.2, which was 0.1 points better than his previous best on the global stage, on his way to the fifth place in the Munich World Cup, in 2017.

READ: Time to shift focus to Changwon World Cup for Indian shooters

If anything, Ravi had the consolation of finishing one place better than Yang Haoran of China, the reigning World champion, Asian Games champion and Youth Olympics champion, who had topped qualification, with 632.9.

Like Ravi, who shot brilliantly over the first 10 shots, Arjun Babuta also had a vibrant start, as he was on a par with his compatriot at 104.6, after 10 shots, but eventually slipped to sixth place.

Alexander Dryagin of Russia shot a world record 251.2, in the final, to beat compatriot Vladimir Maslennikov, by a point, for the gold, while Istvan Peni of Hungary bagged the bronze.

In women’s air rifle, Apurvi Chandela shot 627.0 and missed the final by a point. The Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Mehuli Ghosh, shot 626.0 for the 17th spot, and the champion in Gold Coast, Martina Lindsay Veloso, of Singapore,was placed fifth. Zhao Ruozhu, of China, shot a world record score of 252.4, a better fare than the men, for the women’s air rifle gold.

In women’s sports pistol, Rahi Sarnobat and Heena Sidhu shot an identical score of 291, at the half-way stage, three points behind the leaders.

In women’s trap, Shreyasi Singh shot 63, in three rounds, to be in 30th place, in a field of 55 shooters. Two more rounds will be followed by the final, on Monday.

The results:

10m air rifle:

Men: 1. Alexander Dryagin (Rus) 251.2 (WR) 628.8; 2. Vladimir Maslennikov (Rus) 250.2 (629.0); 3. Istvan Peni (Hun) 228.5 (627.9); 4. Ravi Kumar 208.4 (629.2); 6. Arjun Babuta 165.2 (627.0); 15. Deepak Kumar 625.9. MQS: Akhil Sheoran 622.3.

Women: 1. Zhao Ruozhu (Chn) 252.4 (WR) 628.8; 2. Ying-Shin Lin (Tpe) 251.0 (628.6); 3. Jenny Stene (Nor) 229.1 (628.3); 10. Apurvi Chandela 627.0; 17. Mehuli Ghosh 626.0; 20. Anjum Moudgil 625.5. MQS: Shriyanka Sadangi 623.7.