Vijay Kumar missed the 25-metre rapid fire pistol final following a tie-shoot and finished seventh in the World Cup in Beijing on Thursday.
Vijay Kumar shot a 581, the same as the eventual bronze medallist Ding Feng of China. However, in the shoot-off for the sixth and last berth in the final, Vijay Kumar missed it by a whisker as he shot 47.45 to the 47.48 by the Chinese.
A below par card of 94 in the 6-second series in the second stage had cost Vijay Kumar a place in the final. Otherwise, he had shot rounds of 99, 98, 96, 95 and 99. He had shot a similar 581 in the World Cup in Beijing last year on way to the silver medal.
Jolted
Indian aspirations had suffered a jolt when Pemba Tamang could not board the flight to Beijing owing to a ‘stapled' Chinese visa.
In double trap, Vikram Bhatnagar shot a 140 out of 150 to finish seventh. He had a series of 47, 45 and 48. Mohammed Asab (139) and Ajay Mittal (138) finished 10th and 16th respectively.
The champion of the World Cup Finals last year, Chinese Mo Junjie beat the field with a total of 191 for the gold, following a score of 146 in the qualification. He pushed the former World and Olympic champion Russell Mark of Australia to the silver by four points.
Annu Raj Singh shot a 382 in women's air rifle, and missed the final by two points. She had a series of 95, 92, 96, 99 and the second card spoilt her chances of making an impact in a strong field. Shooting in the MQS section, Anisa Sayyed was equally impressive as she returned a score of 381.
The results: Men: 25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Li Yuehong (Chn) 785.8 (585); 2. Ivan Stoukachev (Rus) 783.4 (582); 3. Ding Feng (Chn) 778.8 (581); 7. Vijay Kumar 581; 20. Gurpreet Singh 568. Double trap: 1. Mo Junjie (Chn) 191 (146); 2. Russell Mark (Aus) 187 (145); 3. Rashid Al-Athba (Qat) 186 (145); 7. Vikram Bhatnagar 140; 10. Mohammed Asab 139; 16. Ajay Mittal 138. MQS: Himanshu 132.
Women:50m rifle 3-position: 1. Wu Liuxi (Chn) 685.2 (587); 2. Wang Chengyi (Chn) 683.1; 3. Elaheh Ahmadi (Iri) 682.9 (584); 28. Meena Kumari 570; 34. Lajja Gauswami 567; 44. Navdeep Dhillon 557.
10m air pistol: 1. Guo Wenjun (Chn) 489.2 (388); 2. Lioubov Iaskevitch (Rus) 486.7 (384); 3. Seon A Kim (Kor) 483.9 (384); 14. Annuraj Singh 382; 28. Heena Sidhu 378; 30. Shweta Chaudhry 378. MQS: Anisa Sayyed 381; Pushpanjali Rana 370.
