Aishwary Tomar equals world record, wins silver at World Championships

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar equalled the world record and won silver in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions at the World Championships in Cairo. India’s Esha Singh and Samrat Rana also secured silver in the 10m air pistol mixed team event

Hyderabad: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar not only equalled a world record but also won his first-ever individual World Championship medal, settling for silver in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) final at the Olympic Shooting Range in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.

The two-time Olympian shot 466.9 in the 45-shot final to finish behind China’s reigning Olympic champion Liu Yukun, who ended 0.2 ahead with 467.1. Newly crowned air pistol world champion Samrat Rana and Olympian and defending champion Esha Singh also won silver in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition, after they went down 10-16 in the gold medal match to China’s Kai Hu and Qianxun Yao.

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The developments mean India still ranks second behind China in the medal tally with three gold, five silver and three bronze medals in its kitty. China has eight golds and a total of 14 medals so far.

Aishwary, the reigning and two-time Asian champion, shot like a dream throughout the day, scoring an astonishing 200/200 in the Kneeling position of the qualification round and following that up with another perfect 200 in the Prone position.

He lost just three points in the Standing position to end up with a tally of 597 and top the 66-strong field. It also matched the men’s 3P qualification world record score, jointly held by Liu and fellow Chinese shooter Linshu Du. Niraj Kumar, the second Indian in the field, also qualified fifth with a score of 592.

In the eight-man final, Aishwary had a poor start by his standards on the day, as an 8.6 for his sixth Kneeling shot set him back early. The recovery began in the favourite Prone position, and defining series of 53.3, 52.7 and 52.7 respectively enabled a surge up to second, just 0.2 behind leader Liu.

Teammate Niraj’s fortunes went the other way. After being fourth at the end of the Kneeling position, he slipped to sixth going into the final Standing position and, although he managed to recover some ground, he finished a credible fifth in his first-ever Worlds final.

The Swede Madsen and one of the two Norwegian heavyweights, Halvorsen, were the first casualties at the 40-shot mark when eliminations began, with the difference between Liu and Tomar remaining at 0.2.

The lead then alternated between the Indian and the Chinese, and going into the final shot, Tomar had the slightest advantage.

As Liu fired a 10.1, Tomar needed a 10.2 or more to win gold, but his 9.8 meant the Olympic champion was also crowned World Champion. Young Frenchman Romain Aufrere took bronze.