Reigning Olympic champion Christian Reitz of Germany beat reigning World champion Lin Junmin of China 35-31in a spectacular men’s 25m rapid fire pistol in the shooting World Cup, at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Tuesday.
With no Olympic quota places on offer in the event, there was some compensation for the host, as Anish Bhanwala made the final with an impressive 588 out of 600 in qualification.
Class act
A former World champion, Reitz was a class act with breathtaking rounds of 3, 5, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 and 5 that brought the roof down in the final. Lin Junmin, the qualification topper with 592 had already won the Olympic quota place at the World Championship.
The 16-year-old Anish, the Commonwealth Games champion and junior World Champion in standard pistol, was overtaken in the highly competitive field, even though he did well to win the tie-shoot 4-3 to avoid the sixth spot against Clement Bessaguet of France.
The packed stands expected a medal from Anish. The young man kindled hopes by shooting a perfect 5 in the third series, after 3s in the first two series of the final. Anish was unable to sustain his good work and rounds of 1 and 2 saw him lose his way.
Manu, Heena miss out
It was a brave effort by Anish, on a day when Manu Bhaker shot 573 and missed the final by one point in women’s air pistol. Olympian and former World record holder Heena Sidhu also grappled with her form and could muster only 571, while first time entrant Anuradha managed to shoot 572.
There was a slender hope for the host in women’s 50m rifle 3-position, but Gaayathri Nithyanandam (563) and Sunidhi Chauhan (1156) were not at their best.
The results: Men: 25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Chistian Reitz (Ger) 35 (588); 2. Lin Junmin (Chn) 31 (592); 3. Kim Junhong (Kor) 22 (589); 5. Anish Bhanwala 14 (588); 11. Adarsh Singh 581; 12. Arpit Goel 580. MQS: Gurpreet Singh 576; Bhavesh Shekhawat 567.
Women: 10m air pistol: 1. Veronika Major (Hun) 245.1 (575); 2. Chia Ying Wu (Tpe) 238.4 (582); 3. Kim Bomi (Kor) 218.3 (579); 14. Manu Bhaker 573; 22. Anuradha 571; 25. Heena Sidhu 571. MQS: P. Shri Nivetha 568; Shweta Singh 565.
50m rifle 3-position: 1. Nina Christen (Sui) 457.1 (1178); 2. Shi Mengyao (Chn) 456.6 (1172); 3. Yelizaveta Korol (Kaz) 445.7 (1171); 36. Gaayathri NIthyanandam 1163; 49. Sunidhi Chauhan 1156.