CWG medallists fail to shoot medals at World Cup

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 22

Ravi Kumar, the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in the 10m Air Rifle event, finished fourth in the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) in Changwon, South Korea, today. Chandigarh lad Arjun Babuta also raised hopes of a medal before finishing sixth in the same event.

Ravi Kumar qualified in second position for the final with a score of 629.2 from 60 shots, while Babuta shot 627.0 to qualify eighth.

High level

It’s interesting to analyse the difference in points scored by Ravi in Changwon today and in Gold Coast two weeks ago. 

In Gold Coast, Ravi had qualified second for the final after scoring 626.8 in the 60-shot qualification stage; today too he qualified in second spot, but his 629.2 today was massive 2.4 points higher than his CWG score. 

Then, in the CWG final, the gold was won by Dane Sampson of Australia, who had 245 points after 24 shots. Ravi was eliminated after 22 shots, in which his score was 224.1.

At Changwon today, gold was won by Russia’s Alexander Dryagin, who shot 251.2 — 6.2 points better than the CWG gold medallist Sampson. Indeed, Dryagin’s 251.2 today is a new world record. Ravi was eliminated after 20 shots today, with a score of 208.4 — this score wasn’t good enough for a medal. At CWG, after 20 shots, his score was 204.6 — it’s a difference of 3.8 points which, again, is a massive difference in shooting.

In brief, Ravi shot at a much superior level at the World Cup today, scoring much higher than he did at CWG; but today’s higher score didn’t get him a medal, lower scores at CWG were enough for a bronze. This only illustrates the tougher competition posed by a global field at a World Cup.

Apurvi 10th, Mehuli 17th

In the women’s 10m Air Rifle, CWG bronze medallist Apurvi Chandela shot 627 to finish 10th, the best among the three Indians in the fray. She missed out on qualifying for the final by one point. CWG silver medallist Mehuli Ghosh shot 626.0 to end in 17th place while Anjum Moudgil shot 625.5 to finish 20th.

China’s first-time World Cupper Zhao Ruozhou won gold in the event with a world record score of 252.4 after the 24-shot final. Chinese Taipei’s Ying-Shin Lin won silver and Norway’s Jenny Stene won bronze.

Both Rahi Sarnobat and Heena Sidhu shot 291 out of 300 to finish the first qualification stage of the women’s 25m Pistol in 10th and 13th positions in a 61-strong field. Annu Raj Singh was lying 20th with a score of 288. 

After the first day of qualification in the women’s trap event, Shreyasi Singh with 64 hits out of 75 was the best placed Indian in 30th position. Shagun Chowdhary scored 63 to lie 36th while Seema Tomar shot 60 to be in the 47th place. The top six qualify for the finals in both the events. It’s unlikely that any of the three would make it, illustrating yet again the strength of the field at a World Cup. 

— With Agency inputs