Shooting World Championships: Gold shoots Amanpreet Singh into limelight

Baku (Azerbaijan), August 23

Punjab’s Amanpreet Singh today became the first Indian to win the men’s 25m standard pistol gold in the World Championships. Amanpreet’s medal — coming in a non-Olympics event — was India’s fifth gold in the championships. India, who have also won four bronze medals, moved back up to the second position. China lead with 24 medals, including 13 gold.

Amanpreet shot 577 to win his first international gold at the senior level. The 20-year-old from Patiala finished three points ahead of South Korean Lee Gunhyeok, while Kevin Chapon of France won bronze. India’s Harsh Gupta finished fourth with 573.

Gupta, Akshay Jain (545) and Amanpreet, however, narrowly missed a team medal by finishing fourth.

Bronze for women’s team

In the women’s 25m pistol event, while none among Tiyana (11th with 538), Yashita Shokeen (12th with 536) and Kritika Sharma (14th with 527) could succeed individually, they did bag the team bronze with a combined score of 1601. China won gold and the host nation got silver. — PTI

Success for Patiala’s Aman

Patiala: Amanpreet Singh is going through a purple patch. After winning his maiden international gold at the Junior World Cup in June, the 20-year-old today became the senior world champion in the 25m standard pistol event. Amanpreet, known as Garry among friends, is a student at the Multani Mal Modi College here. Amanpreet, who belongs to village Panjeta and trains at the Marksmen Shooting Academy here, dedicated the medal to his coach Swaranjit Kaur and parents Parminder Singh and Paramjit Kaur.