Pooja Ghatkar gave India a robust start, winning the women’s air rifle bronze in the shooting World Cup at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Friday.
On a day when three World records were set — two by China’s Song Buhan and Shi Mengyao, and one by Laetisha Scanlan of Australia — it was difficult to ignore the manner in which Pooja tackled the Chinese in the climax after having qualified in second place with a total of 418.0.
Mentored by Gagan Narang for the last few months, Pooja was ready for the challenge.
However, she was not prepared for a torn ‘blinder’ midway through the final, which forced her to physically close her non-focusing eye during the shots.
The former Asian champion, however, put up a brave fight, with shots of 10.6, 10.8 and 10.7.
“I am happy, but, not that happy,” said Pooja, as she acknowledged the fact that she could have fared better.
She also acknowledged Gagan Narang’s role in tuning her, both technically and mentally. “She used to struggle in matches. Today, she handled the match well, both in qualification and the final,” said Narang.
The gold was a foregone conclusion as Shing Mengyao ran away with it with a World record 252.1.
In men’s air rifle, Deepak Kumar stumbled at the business end after a spectacular performance, while Ravi Kumar slipped early and finished eighth.
Song Buhan of China pipped the versatile Peter Sidi of Hungary to the gold by 0.4 point.
In women’s trap, the stiff winds took it away as Rajeshwari Kumari slipped from a perfect 25 in the first round to 21 and 18 thereafter, missing the final by two points.
The final was very demanding with gusty winds and a delayed start, but young Penny Smith of Australia clinched the gold two points ahead of London Olympics gold medallist and three-time World champion Jessica Rossi of Italy, in a 50-shot final.
The results: Men: 10m air rifle: 1. Song Buhan (Chn) 249.5 ( WR ) 624.4; 2. Peter Sidi (Hun) 249.1 (623.7); 3. Atsushi Shimada (Jpn) 227.4 (628.2).
Women: 10m air rifle: 1. Shi Mengyao (Chn) 252.1 (WR) 418.6; 2. Dong Lijie (Chn) 248.9 (417.7); 3. Pooja Ghatkar 228.8 (418.0).
Trap: 1. Penny Smith (Aus) 40 ( WR ) 68; 2. Jessica Rossi (Ita) 38 (66); 3. Mopsi Veromaa (Fin) 27 (68).
