Harpal Singh Bedi
New Delhi, 28 March : It was a day of double delight for India as hosts won both Men and women trap team titles to finish ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun stage with whopping 30 medals to make it as their most successful ever ISSF World Cup event which concluded at Dr Karni Singh Shooting range here on Sunday.
India topped the medal tally which included 15 gold, nine silver and six bronze medals The USA came distant second with eight medals, four gold, three silver and one bronze..
The Women’s Trap Team comprising Shreyasi Singh, Manisha Keer and Rajeshwari Kumari, bagged first gold of the day blanking Kazakhstan 6-0 in totally one sided final.
The hosts won the first 5-shot each series 12-11, the second 11-18 and the third by a margin of 12-9 to completely outplay the Kazakhs.
Two points are awarded for winning each 15-shot series, while the team split points if the scores are tied. The first team to reach six or more points wins.
However the Men’s team Trap final was a closely contested affair and the trio of Kynan Chenai, Prithviraj Tondaiman and Lakshay Sheoran had to fight it out to beat Slovakia 6-4 ..
The Slovaks won the first series 13-12 but India hit right back to level at 2-2 after winning the second series 13-12 themselves. The visitors however took the lead again by winning the third 13-11. The hosts hit right back winning the fourth 14-11 with both Prithviraj and Lakshay hitting all five targets. and In the fifth and final they won 13-11 to clinch the match 6-4.
India also won a silver in the 25M Rapid Fire Pistol Men’s Team competition. Gurpreet Singh, Vijayveer Sidhu and Adarsh Singh went down to the USA 2-10 in the final.
There were only two series of five Rapid Fire shots where the Indians were able to split points. This was the USA’s fourth gold of the tournament,.
A total of 22 countries won medals over 10 competition days. A total of 294 shooters representing 53 countries took part in the tournament, which was the first International Olympic sporting event to have taken place in the country post the Corona virus-induced lockdowns last year.