Apurvi Chandela thrived on the explosive atmosphere she herself had triggered with quick and high scores in a spectacular final to capture the World Cup air rifle gold, ahead of a bunch of Chinese, with a World record to boot, at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Saturday.
Having won the Olympic quota place at the World Championship last year, Apurvi could aim for the medals.
Crowd support
“The atmosphere motivated me, and helped me push more,” said Apurvi, acknowledging the role of the packed stands which roared in applause after each of her high shots.
After a hesitant start, Apurvi jumped ahead at the half-way stage in the 24-shot final.
Shooting 10.5 or better in her last 11 shots, Apurvi beat China’s Zhao Ruozhu, who had topped qualification with 634.0, a World record, by 1.1 points for the gold.
This was much in contrast to the manner in which Apurvi had stumbled in the last stage of qualification with 9.7, 10.6 and 10.0 that saw her total slip to 629.3, the fourth best score among 101.
“The qualification score was not bad, but I will try to get better,” said Apurvi.
Apurvi, who had competed in the Rio Olympics, said being chased by a bunch of high-quality shooters had in fact helped. The World record and gold medal, which will fetch her merit points for Olympic selection, were already sufficient proof of her motivation.
Anjum misses out
Anjum Moudgil shot 628.0 and missed the final by 0.1 point, while Elavenil Valarivan was not at her best, placing 30th with 625.3.
Shooting in the MQS section, Mehuli Ghosh had the second best score among all with 631.0.
The results:
10m air rifle: Women: 1. Apurvi Chandela 252.9 WR (629.3); 2. Zhao Ruozhu (Chn) 251.8 (634.0 WR); 3. Xu Hong (Chn) 230.4 (628.1); 12. Anjum Moudgil 628.0; 30. Elavenil Valarivan 625.3.
MQS: Mehuli Ghosh 631.0; Meghana Sajjanar 625.3.