Sangram, Amanpreet make it India’s best ever ISSF World Cup final performance
INDIA’s Sangram Dahiya won Silver in Double Trap and Amanpreet Singh won Bronze in the Men’s 50M Pistol to make it India’s best ever medal haul at the annual season ending Shooting sport showpiece. Apurvi Chandela and Md. Asab had earlier got India a medal each in the 2015 edition.
On competition day four of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final (WCF), at New Delhi’s Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range, Sangram shot exceedingly well throughout the day, first topping qualifying with a score of 144 out of 150 and then finishing the 80 shot final with a score of 76. He could not overcome the world record effort of China’s 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist Hu Binyuan, who shot a sublime 79 out of 80 hits in the final. Davide Gasparini of Italy won Bronze with a final round score of 56.
“I am really happy as the hard training over the past three weeks has paid off. I change a couple of things in my technique and its come on really well as the result shows. Hu Binyuan is a legend in Double Trap shooting and it was an honour to go head to head with him. At the end of the day however, you are just competing to better yourself and not against anyone else,” said Sangram after his effort.
India’s world number one Double Trap shooter Ankur Mittal, who qualified for the six-man final in second position with a score of 139, finished fourth in the final. He had to leave with 45 against his name after 50 shots. Sangram’s first ever medal at the ISSF level however made up for the disappointment.
However, it was Amanpreet Singh who started the good showing, claiming Bronze in the Men’s 50M Pistol behind Gold medalist Damir Mikec of Serbia and Silver medalist Oleh Omelchuk of Ukraine. Amanpreet shot 202.2 in the final while Damir shot 229.3 and the Ukranian Omelchuk finished with a score of 228.
Amanpreet, who along with the rest of the Indian squad, will leave for Australia to take part in the Commonwealth Shooting Championship on Friday night itself, said,
“There was huge pressure shooting in front of the home crowd and I am really relieved. I did not shoot that well in qualifying and in the final I was focusing on getting my technique right for each and every shot and it paid off. I am really happy to win this medal in such an elite competition.”
India’s Jitu Rai was the first to bow out in the final in seventh place. In the qualifying round, Amanpreet had qualified in seventh spot shooting 545 out of 600 while Jitu shot 561 to qualify in fourth position.
In the day’s other two finals, Denmark’s Torben Grimmel won the Men’s 50M Rifle Prone with yet another world record score of 250.6 in the final. Germany’s reigning Olympic champion Henri Junghaenel won Silver with a score of 250.1 while Korea’s Kim Jonghyun won the Bronze with an effort of 228.7.
In the Women’s 25M Pistol event, Korea’s Kim Minjung won the Gold beating China’s former World Champion Jingjing Zhang in the final. Both Kim and Zhang ended with 34 points each in the final after which Kim prevailed in a shoot-off. Zorana Arunovic of Serbia won the Bronze.
Sangram and Amanpreet’s effort took India to fourth in the medal standings with an overhaul haul of one Gold, one Silver and one Bronze medal. India’s Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu had won Gold in the 10M Air Pistol Mixed Team event on the opening day of competitions.
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