Anish, Neeraj in line for rapid fire pistol final

New Delhi, March 8

Anish Bhanwala along with Neeraj Kumar were in line for making the final of the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol in the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The 15-year-old Anish, in his maiden senior World Cup outing, stood third after the first qualifying round of the event that included three Rio Olympics medallists.

Anish, who recently equalled the world record in the event in the national trials, shot 294 out of 300 in the precision stage, to lie behind China’s Rio bronze medallist Yuehong Li, who shot the same score to be in the second place and France’s Clement Bessaguet, who shot 295 to be on top of the qualifying ladder.

Also in line for a final berth was Neeraj Kumar, who shot 291 to lie in the sixth place. The top six in the event at the end of the two qualifying stages (precision stage, rapid-fire stage) make it to the medal round.

The Finnish pair of Satu Makela-Nummela and Vesa Tornroos won the trap mixed team gold. The only Indian pair competing — Kynan Chenai and Seema Tomar — shot a combined 132 to finish 14th in the event. 

CBSE reschedules Anish’s Board exams

Bhanwala will arrive from Mexico at the dead of night and sit for his Class X Board exam at the crack of dawn. In the six-day gap between his arrival from Guadalajara and departure for the junior World Cup in Sydney, Anish will appear for two exams. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), in an unprecedented move, agreed to reschedule three papers for the shooter, and his father believes this should become a norm. He has been granted special dates for Hindi, Social Science and Mathematics papers, which will be held on April 16, 17 and 18. 

CBSE took the decision on the request of the Sports Authority of India, who made the request after Anish had approached them. 

Anish has already missed the Hindi paper which was on Tuesday. The Social Science paper is scheduled for March 22 and Mathematics for March 28. — PTI