Former World record-holder Heena Sidhu announced her readiness for the next World Cup in Munich with a gold medal in air pistol at the international shooting championship here.
Even though she had a modest score of 572 in qualification, Heena shot with assurance in the final. Despite catching up and progressing ahead briskly after a slow start in the first five shots of the 24-shot final, Heena tied with Mathilde Lamolle of France with 239.8. In the shoot-off for the gold, Heena shot 9.4 to 8.7 by the French girl.
P. Shri Nivetha, who topped qualification with an impressive 582, settled for bronze after missing a better medal by 0.3 point.
In the World Cup at Munich, Heena will compete in air pistol, 25m sports pistol events and mixed air pistol. The 16-year-old Manu Bhaker, who has been sensational this season — winning the World Cup gold among women and juniors apart from Commonwealth Games gold —will shoot air pistol in Munich along with Heena and Mahima Turhi Agarwal.
After a string of international competitions, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) had decided to preserve the shooters by opting out of the World Cup, currently in progress in Fort Benning, USA.
The results: Women: 10m air pistol: 1. Heena Sihdu 239.8(9.4) 572; 2. Mathilde Lamolle (Fra) 239.8(8.7) 569; 3. P. Shri Nivetha 219.2 (582); 9. Shreya Gawande 566; 12. Lovleen Kaur 562.
