Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary won gold at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event. (Source: ISSF screenshot)Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary ended India’s campaign at the ISSF World Cup 2019 on a high note with a gold medal, third for the hosts, as they finished top in the 10m air pistol mixed team final with 483.4 points on the final day of the tournament on Wednesday.
ISSF World Cup 2019: Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary claim gold in 10m air pistol mixed team event at #ISSFWorldCup. #issfwc pic.twitter.com/UIE6FsajL1
— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) 27 February 2019
India did not had an ideal start to the final as they took the second spot with 99.1 points, trailing the Republic of Korea at the top after the first series of shots. With the 17-year old Manu managing to have only one shot above 10, Saurabh made up for it with three shots above 10.
Manu had a better series 2 with the scores 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.3 and 9.8 and the 16-year old Saurabh going for above 10 in all the five shots. Korea, however, maintained their lead, even though both the sides finished with the same score.
The third series of the final saw the Indian pair coming up with 99.4, slightly higher than Korea but maintained their position at the second spot. It was after the third series that the teenage-pair took the lead, staying clear of elimination till the end. Manu and Bhaker ended the final at the top with a lead of 5.7 points to second-placed China.
Manu and Saurabh had earlier equalled Qualification World Record and also set a new Qualification World Record Junior by shooting 778 points. The other Indian pair of Heena Sidhu and Abhishek Verma failed to qualify for the final, shooting a total of 770 points.
India end the tournament with three medals – all gold. Earlier, Apurvi Chandela set a new world record with 252.9 points on her way to her third individual World Cup medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event on Saturday. Saurabh Chaudhary had also broken the World Record on the second day of the tournament, making a score of 245.0 to finish top in the 10m Air Pistol event, also ensuring Olympic quota.
