There was cheer in the Indian camp as Rahi Sarnobat, Chinki Yadav and Manu Bhaker combined strongly to win the 25 metre sports pistol team gold with a resounding 17-7 victory over Poland in the shooting World Cup at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Thursday.
Even though it was a collective triumph, Asian Games gold medallist Rahi, who was pushed to the silver in the individual event by Chinki, was a class act.
In 12 series, Rahi has a perfect 5 six times, a 4 five times and once a three. Out of 60 rapid fire shots, she missed the bull’s-eye only on seven occasions.
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Rahi’s incredible performance lifted the team. Chinki managed to find a semblance of her form, and though Manu struggled a bit in patches, the team came good.
In women’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event, Anjum Moudgil, Shreya Saksena and Gaayathri Nithyanandam, shooting in the kneeling, prone and standing positions respectively, were beaten 47-43 by Poland in the gold match.
Aneta Stankiewicz, Aleksandra Szutko and Natalia Kochanska had shown their class by topping qualification in the first and second stages.
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Controversy
There was a lot of drama in the men’s rifle 3-position team gold match and it did not take place.
India was scheduled to meet Hungary but an internal issue in the Hungary team, especially between Istvan Peni and Peter Sidi, saw the latter concede the match.
However, instead of declaring India the winner, the organisers elevated the third team, USA, to have a go at the gold on the morrow, against the host.
India tops the medals table with 10 gold, six silver and five bronze ahead of USA (3, 2, 1). Denmark (2), Poland, Kazakhstan, Iran, Britain and Slovenia are the gold winners so far.
The results: Women: 25m sports pistol: 1. India (Rahi Sarnobat, Chinki Yadav, Manu Bhaker) 17 (419) 844; 2. Poland (Joanna Iwona Wawrzonowska, Julita Borek, Agnieszka Korejwo) 7 (399) 848.
50m rifle 3-position: 1. Poland (Aneta Stankiewicz, Aleksandra Szutko, Natalia Kochanska) 47 (872) 1315; 2. India (Anjum Moudgil, Shreya Saksena, Gaayathri Nithyanandam) 43 (864) 1304; 3. Indonesia 47 (856) 1274 .