Baku (Azerbaijan): The Indian men's 10-metre air pistol team of Shiva Narwal, Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema secured a bronze medal at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship held in Baku, Azerbaijan on Thursday.
Shiva top scored for India with 579 points and was followed by Sarabjot (578 points) and Arjun Singh (577 points). This combined to a total of 1,734 points, which led to India getting the third position, as per Olympics.com.
China secured the gold medal with a total of 1,749 points and Germany got the silver with a total of 1,743 points.
But the individual scores of Indian shooters were not good enough to earn them spots in the men's 10-m air pistol final featuring eight players. Shiva was the best-placed player for India at 17th, with Sarabjot at 18th and Arjun at 24th position.
Indian women's shooting players failed to win anything. In the 10-m air pistol team event, the trio of Esha Singh, Palak Gulia and Divya TS failed to secure a medal. The trio also did not perform well enough to even reach the final of the individual event.
Esha scored 572 points to finish at 16th place while Palak (570 points) and Divya TS (566 points) came 30th and 40th, respectively, in the field of 118. Their combined score placed them at number 11 among 24 teams.
The rifle, pistol and shotgun shooters are taking part in the championship at Baku Olympic Shooting Range.
In the shotgun skeet events, India was empty-handed, with Anant Jeet Singh Naruka ending up as the best-placed Indian at 45th in men’s skeet with a score of 48. Angad Vir Singh Bajwa and Gurjot Khangura, with scores of 47 each, finished outside the top 65 among 125 competitors
In women's skeet, Parinaaz Dhaliwal was the highest-placed Indian at the 17th spot with a score of 71. Ganemat Sekhon scored 70 and to earn the 30th spot finish while Darshna Rathore managed 69 to finish 38th among 71 shooters.
Youth Olympic Games champion Manu Bhaker (pistol) and in-form Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (50m rife 3P) will be in action later.
The ISSF World Championship 2023 is a qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics, with 48 Olympic quotas up for grabs. The top four shooters in each of the 12 Olympic shooting events will get these quotas.
The Championship started on August 14 and will end on September 1. (ANI)
