Asian Games gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat outclassed a strong field to win the 25-metre sports pistol gold at the Shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, on Monday.
The 30-year-old Rahi, who had won the World Cup gold earlier in Changwon in 2013 and Munich in 2019, shot 39 in the final, one short of the world record. She beat Mathilde Lamolle of France by eight points for the gold.
In fact, Rahi had sealed the gold even before the last series as she had an unbeatable six-point lead. ‘’This assures me that I am on the right track. I have to keep working on this’’, said Rahi.
Shooting five rounds of perfect-5 in the first six series, Rahi intimidated the world-class field, which saw the reigning Olympic champion Anna Korakaki being pushed to fifth place.
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In the final, only a score of 10.2 or more is taken as a hit for one point in sports pistol.
Rahi’s undisputed mastery could be gleaned from the fact that the seven other shooters put together could muster only two perfect-5 between them in 52 rounds total.
Rahi had earlier qualified with a majestic 591, following 296 in the rapid fire section. Manu Bhaker also shot 296 in rapid fire to qualify for the final with 588 but ended up seventh.
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It was the second World Cup medal for Rahi this season. She had lost the shoot-off for the gold to Chinki Yadav in the World Cup in Delhi in March.
In women’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event, Tejaswini Sawant (1168) and Anjum Moudgil (1162) returned modest scores. Tejaswini looked set to make the final midway through the standing series but dropped 14 points in the last two series and slipped to 20th place.
The 20-year-old Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, the gold medallist in the Delhi World Cup, had made the men’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event on Sunday but ended up sixth.
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