Chinky Yadav upstaged the experienced Rahi Sarnobat and the fancied Manu Bhaker to win gold as India swept the women's 25m pistol event of the ISSF Shooting World Cup in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Bhaker shot 244.7 to claim the top prize in the prestigious season-ending tournament
Thanks to the country's dominant showing for a major part of the tournament, India continued to lead the standings with 15 gold, nine silver and six bronze for a total of 29 podium finishes.
Jitu, who had won a silver medal in the free pistol competition, shot 200.8 in the final round to clinch the gold in the air pistol event.
Jitu, who had won a silver medal in the free pistol competition, shot 200.8 in the final round to clinch the gold in the air pistol event.
Pakistani shooters were not allowed to participate in the ISSF event in Delhi.
On Sunday, Mukesh Nelavalli also won an individual bronze in the event, his sixth medal of the competition, shooting a total of 548 over 60-shots. Azerbaijan's Imran Garayev won the gold with a score of 552.
Pistol sensation Manu Bhaker continued her terrific run of form, again claiming the individual as well as the team gold medal, while Gaurav Rana bagged a silver, as Indian shooters set the stage ablaze in the ISSF Junior World Cup, in Sydney, on Saturday.
Lakshay Sheoran and Neeru Dhanda missed out on making the medal round in the trap mixed team event at the ISSF Lonato World Cup.
Lajja Gauswami on Tuesday clinched the silver medal in women's 50-metre Rifle 3 Position event, finally bringing to an end India's lean run at the ISSF World Cup in Granada, Spain.
National Games champion Neeru Dhanda experienced one of her finest days in the sport en route to winning the women's trap gold medal at the Asian Shooting Championship.
The first gold medal of the competition went to Italy's Danilo Sollazzo in the men's 10m Air Rifle, beating Slovakia's Patrik Jany 16-14. Jani is a Tokyo Olympics finalist. Czech Republic's Jiri Privratsky won bronze.
Paris Olympics quota winner Naruka overcame an opening round 22 to return with two perfect rounds of 25 each to finish just three off the leader and will hope to make it to the top-six on Thursday.
Russia's Vasile Mossin picked his first World Cup gold, winning the men's double trap in the ISSF Shotgun World Cup.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Ronjan Sodhi will spearhead Indian challenge at the ISSF Shotgun World Cups in Mexico and United Arab Emirates in March and April.
In the ranking match 1, Bhaker qualified for the medal round as the third qualifier with an aggregate for 14 points, along with Germany's Doreen Vennekamp (14 points), while Esha was eliminated.
India's shooter Apurvi Chandela had a gold medal in her grasp before a slip up in the 19th shot pushed her outside the medal bracket at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol stage.
Deswal shot 238.8 to comfortably finish on top of the podium in the eight-women final while Bhaker managed 236.7 to settle for the silver medal.
Mukesh Nelavalli won the men's 25m pistol gold, while Tejaswani Singh clinched silver in the women's category in the same event
Elavenil Valarivan strikes 10m air rifle gold; juniors continue dominance
There was some cheer for India after two barren days as the duo of Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu triumphed in the 10 metre mixed team air pistol event of the ISSF World Cup.
Umesh Choudhary was penalised two points for 'reporting late' to the preparation arena ahead of the 10m finals, which cost him the gold medal in the eight-shooter final.
India produced their best ever show at the ISSF World Cup after sweeping both the mixed team titles on Thursday for a total tally of five gold medals in Munich.
With a score of 135/150, the Athens Olympics silver medallist failed to finish among the top-six, who moved into the final.
India's Mairaj Ahmad Khan finished 4th at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final in Rome on Thursday losing a shoot-off against Egypt's Azmy Mehelba in the skeet event.
Tokyo Olympics quota holders Anjum Moudgil, Divyansh Singh Panwar and Arjun Babuta qualified for the women's and men's 10 metres air rifle finals respectively on the opening day of the ISSF World Cup, in Delhi, on Friday.
Lakshaya and Kismat Chopra along with Manavaditya Singh Rathore on Thursday bagged the team bronze in the Men's Trap event as India ended their campaign at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup with a total of 24 medals to grab the second place in the overall standings. India finished with a total of nine gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals as the year's second and final Junior World Cup concluded in Gabala, Azerbaijan.
India's Pooja Ghatkar continued her good run, registering her second 4th place finish of the year in a World Cup stage on day three of the sixth and final International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) at Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday.
The 20-year-old's top prize, however, did not translate into an Olympic quota for India as Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil have already secured the maximum two berths available per country in last year's World Championships.
Indian shooters got off to a positive start on day one of the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun), clinching seven medals, including three golds, at Gabala in Azerbaijan on Sunday.
Pooja Ghatkar overcame technical issues to clinch the women's 10m air rifle bronze medal as hosts India opened their account on a positive note in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in New Delhi.
Anish wins 25m rapid fire pistol gold, silver for Esha at Junior World Cup
Ace pistol shooter Manu Bhaker will lead a 35-member Indian team in the season-opening ISSF World Cups in April in South America.
'I was just trying to control my nerves. Nerves do play a big role. I just asked myself to stay calm as it was a matter of few more shots'
Olympic-bound Rahi Sarnobat displayed sensational form to clinch the women's 25m pistol gold medal at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Osijek on Monday but teen sensation Manu Bhaker ended seventh in the same event.
Former World Cup silver medalist Seema Tomar of India missed out a podium finish and finished fifth in women's trap event at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in San Marino on Friday. Australia's Emma Elizabeth Cox won the gold medal, USA's Corey Cogdell bagged silver while Carole Cormenier of France clinched the bronze in the women's trap event. The former Asian Airgun gold medallist had qualified for the first competition stage semi-final but could not get into the shoot-off. In the men's trap, Prithviraj Tondaiman was placed 16th after shooting rounds of 23 and 24 and will shoot the remaining three series on Saturday. On the opening day of qualification, Manavjit Singh Sandhu (73rd) shot 23 and 21, while Kynan Chenai (36th) had 23 and 23.
NRAI said Indian government had given clearance for the applications, but that was before last Thursday's dastardly attack
On day one of competitions in the Rifle/Pistol World Cup, the two air rifle shooters eased into the women's 10m finals with solid scores, making it their fifth ISSF final in less than two years, including the World Championship last year.
Former Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra will lead the 25-member Indian shooting contingent in the third leg of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup (Rifle/Pistol), to be held in Munich from May 19 to 26. The Indian team comprises of 17 shooters and eight officials. But with the Rio Games less than three months away, all eyes will be on those shooters, who are selected to represent India at the Olympics. Apart from Abhinav, other Indian shooters in the World Cup team who will also be heading to Rio include the likes of Jitu Rai, Gagan Narang, Chain Singh, Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul, Gurpreet Singh, P N Prakash and Heena Sidhu.
