Shooting World Cup: Sameer Gulia wins silver in rapid pistol; mixed team fails to qualify for medal round

It was a commendable performance by Sameer, son of former national champion Anita Devi, as he fought smart after having qualified with a modest score of 573, as compared to 586 by the Chinese champion.

Sameer Gulia poses for a photograph with the junior rapid fire pistol silver medal in the World Championship in Cairo on October 17, 2022. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Sameer Gulia won the junior men’s rapid fire pistol silver medal as he was beaten 25-23 by Wang Shiwen of China in the shooting World Championship in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday.

It was a commendable performance by the 16-year-old Sameer, son of former national champion Anita Devi, as he fought smart after having qualified with a modest score of 573, as compared to 586 by the Chinese champion.

In the junior women’s air pistol team event, the trio of Esha Singh, Shikha Narwal and Varsha Singh qualified for the gold match by finishing with 576, two points behind the Chinese in the second stage of qualification. Both the teams had shot identical 855 in the first stage. The medal matches will be held on Tuesday.

India did not reach the medal stage in the mixed team events. Mehuli Ghosh and Arjun Babuta shot 630.0 and missed the chance to fight for a medal by 0.1 point in the air rifle mixed team event. Elavenil Valarivan and Kiran Jadhav shot 627.5 for the 17th spot.

In 50-metre rifle 3-position mixed team junior event, NIschal and Pankaj Mukheja placed 12th with 861, while Nupur Kumrawat and Surya Pratap Singh shot 855 for the 19th spot.

In women’s 50-metre rifle prone event, Anjum Moudgil missed a medal by 0.9 point after shooting 624.8.

India was second in the medals table with five gold, three silver and six bronze, behind China that has so far won 16 gold, six silver and five bronze.

The Results:

25m rapid fire junior men: 1. Wang Shiwen (Chn) 25 (17) 586; 2. Sameer Gulia 23 (10) 573; 3. Liu Yangpan (Chn) 17 (12) 582; 4. Yang Liu (Chn) 12 (15) 581; 7. Udhayveer Sidhu 7 (569); 10. Jatin 567; 13.Adarsh Singh 565; 16. Harshwardhan Yadav 562.

50m rifle prone: Women: 1. Jolyn Beer (Ger) 627.0; 2. Sarina Hitz (Sui) 626.7; 3. Mary Tucker (USA) 625.7; 5. Anjum Moudgil 624.8; 28. Ashi Chouksey 617.8; 33. Sift Kaur Samra 616.4.