India Finish ISSF World Cup Final In China On A High

The final day of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final Rifle/Pistol being held in Putian, China turned out to be an exceptional day for the Indian contingent as India shooters finished their campaign on a high. Indian shooters were part of both the teams that won the President’s Trophies for the 10m Air Pistol and Air Rifle Mixed Team competitions.

On the final day of the competition on Friday in Putian, China, Manu Bhaker kicked of the day with a gold as she first joined forces with world numero uno Artem Chernousov of Russia to get the better of the pair of India’s Saurabh Chaudhary and Olympic winner Anna Korakaki 17-13 in the final.

Later, Divyansh Singh Panwar teamed up with Croatian great Snjezana Pejcic, to claim the 10m Air Rifle Mixed team title. Divyansh and Snjezana triumphed 16-14 over India’s Apurvi Chandela and D. Zhang.

What added to the joy of the Indian contingent was Shahzar Rizvi’s bronze medal finish in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed team competition.

Earlier in the tournament both Manu and Divyansh had won gold medals in the individual 10m Air competitions to ensure that India stood at the top of the medals tally in Putian with a total of three gold medals.

Indian shooters have dominated throughout the year in ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup stages, where in a first, India topped all four of them. The stupendous year for Indian shooting also saw three Indian shooters namely Saurabh Chaudhary in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol, Elavenil Valarivan in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle and Divyansh Singh Panwar in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle, finished on top of the 2019 ISSF rankings.

The Mixed Team events were a new format with competitors from different countries and as such the medals were not counted in the final tally.