Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Apr 8: Indian shooters fell short of qualifying for the final in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup being held in Granada on Wednesday.

Mukesh Nelavalli, who had clinched gold in the mixed team event a day earlier, was the best-placed Indian in the main competition, finishing 14th with a score of 579-21x—just two points short of the cutoff for the final. Anton Aristarkhov secured the last qualifying spot with 581-20x, while Xie Yu topped the qualification round with an impressive 588-18x.

Interestingly, Aakash Bharadwaj delivered the highest score among Indians, shooting 580-26x to finish 10th overall, but he was competing only for ranking points and was not eligible for the final. Among the other Indian participants, Ujjawal Malik placed 22nd with 577-17x, while Parmod Kumar finished 39th with 574-16x. Varun Tomar, also competing for ranking points, ended 63rd with a score of 569-13x.

In the Women’s 25m Pistol event, Indian shooters made a promising start in the precision stage. Rhythm Sangwan and Divya TS both finished the day within the top eight. Rhythm posted a score of 292-9x (99, 96, 97), while Divya followed closely with 291-8x (96, 98, 97).

However, Simranpreet Kaur Brar had a comparatively difficult outing, scoring 282-5x. Shooters Abhidnya Ashok Patel and Chinki Yadav, both competing for ranking points, recorded scores of 286-8x and 277-7x respectively.

The competition continues on Thursday with the rapid-fire stage and finals of the 25m women’s pistol event. Events including the Men’s 10m Air Rifle qualification and finals, along with the elimination round of the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, are also scheduled.