Ravinder Singh wins gold as India makes a strong start at ISSF World Championship

Ravinder Singh won gold in the men’s 50m pistol, while Elavenil Valarivan claimed a sensational bronze in the women’s 10m air rifle at the ISSF World Championship in Cairo. India also bagged team bronze and other solid performances on day one

Hyderabad: Ravinder Singh ensured the best possible start for the Indian squad on competition day one of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship Rifle/Pistol in Cairo, winning gold in the very first event of the championship (men’s 50m pistol), before two-time Olympian and Asian champion Elavenil Valarivan clinched bronze, her first individual world medal, in sensational fashion in the women’s 10m air rifle final won by reigning Olympic champion Ban Hyojin of Korea.

Ravinder shot 569 in the men’s free pistol to finish on top of the 47-man pile and also combined with Kamaljeet (540, 20th) and Yogesh Kumar (537, 24th) to win the team silver in the event.

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Ela shot a superb 633.4 in the women’s 10m air rifle qualification round to take the fifth qualifying spot, while Olympic and now world champion Ban took the eighth and final spot with a 633.0.

China’s Han Jiayu, who Ban dethroned from the world crown, topped qualification with a searing 635.1. Also making the finals was Wang Zifei, the world record holder from China, who would win silver eventually.

Ela, as she did in Shymkent in the Asian Championships earlier this year, was in the zone from shot one of the final, opening with a 10.8.

With high scores coming from every lane, Ela did well to be in fourth after the first two series of five shots, and as the single shots began, she moved into joint lead with Ban after the 14th shot.

With the race to 24 shots getting intense, Ela took the sole lead for the first time in the match with a bull’s eye (10.9) on her 17th shot, but slipped to third with a 10.0 on her 19th.

A 10.6 on her 20th shot confirmed the medal, and she would have to settle for it as Ban and Wang grew stronger. The Korean finished with 255.0, with the Chinese a point behind.

“Definitely one of the most intense finals that I have ever been a part of,” said the Indian after the final.

She would also win a second medal on the day, the women’s 10m air rifle team bronze, alongside Meghana Sajjanar (631.2, 17th) and Shreya Agrawal (628.7, 33rd).

Among other results of the day, Anish in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol qualification shot 291 in stage one, while Sameer shot 286 and Adarsh Singh shot 285. They return on Sunday for stage two, with the top six advancing to the medal round.

In the women’s 50m pistol, Priyanka Patel was sixth with a score of 533, Sakshi Suryavanshi ninth with 532, and Parisha Gupta shot 531 for an 11th-place finish.

The men’s 10m air rifle final is also scheduled for later in the day on Saturday, and Arjun Babuta looks set to make the eight-man cut at this stage, having shot 632.5 in the first qualification relay.