Munich, May 26 (PTI) Young Parth Rakesh Mane impressed to finish seventh in his first senior final for India in the men’s 10m air rifle competition following a good outing in qualification on the opening day of the ISSF World Cup here on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old from Maharashtra had earlier shattered the junior national record with an effort of 633.6 in qualification, which gave him third spot in a classy 149-strong field. Korea and China shared the two gold medals on the day.
There was no Indian presence in the final of the men’s 10m air pistol as the trio of Samrat Rana (582), Ajendra Singh Chauhan (578) and Shravan Kumar (575) ended 14th, 28th and 46th in the qualification.
India’s Jonathan Gavin Antony shot 585 to find himself in seventh place but he was participating for ranking points only, paving the way for Pakistan shooter Gulfam Joseph (583)entry into the final despite finishing ninth in the pecking order.
As a rule, the top eight shooters compete in the final.
Meanwhile, in the final of the men’s 10m air rifle event, 18-year-old junior world champion Parth shot 145.8 before being eliminated in seventh place..
The other Indians in the men’s pistol event, Tushar Shahu Mane was placed 25th in the qualification with a total score of 630.5, while Arjun Babuta ended a disappointing 63rd with 627.5..
Himanshu Dhillon, who was second in qualifications with 635.7, could not make the final as he was competing for ranking points only..
Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil (30th with 629.8), too, was playing for ranking points..
Parth’s qualification score was bettered only by the eventual gold medallist and former 50m rifle three positions (3P) Olympic champion Zhang Changhong (636.3) of China and Paris Games silver medallist Victor Lindgren (633.9) of Sweden.
Parth began the final with a solid 10.8 and even finished the first five-shot series with the same score, finding himself in fourth at that stage with just 0.7 separating the leader Chang from fifth placed Peter Gorsa, the Croatian legend.
Korean Shin Minki then shot a perfect 10.9 to begin the second five-shot series and Parth found himself sliding down to eighth after a high-scoring second series.
Going into his 12th shot of the 24-shot final, also the first elimination stage, Parth was 0.2 behind Lucas Kryzs of France, but a 9.9 from big scoring Norwegian Hegg saw him earn two more shots for himself.
Those two however would be his last two shots of his first senior international final, as he bowed out after the 14th. Shin won silver and Lindgren bronze as Chang closed out with a perfect 10.9 and a score of 242.8.
Earlier, two other Indians in qualification, Shahu Tushar Mane (630.5) and Arjun Babuta (627.5) finished 25th and 63rd respectively.
Korea’s Hong Suhyeon took the first gold of the tournament, winning the men’s 10m air pistol with an effort of 241.4 in the final. Jason Solari of Switzerland took silver while Hsieh Hsiang-Chen of Chinese Taipei won bronze.
Reigning world champion Samrat Rana of India finished just outside the top eight with a score of 582. Ajendra Singh Chauhan on his India debut shot 578 for 28th spot while Shravan Kumar’s 575 gave him 46th place in the 142 strong field.
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Esha begins well in women’s 25m pistol ============================== The day also saw the first precision stage of the women’s 25m pistol play out and India’s Esha Singh struck form with a 293, giving her sixth place for now. Manu Bhaker (288) and Rahi Sarnobat (287) have more to do than Esha during Wednesday’s rapid-fire round, to make the top eight.
All three Indians in contention in the women’s 3P, whose final also comes up on Wednesday along with the women’s sport pistol, sailed through their elimination relays unscathed.
Vidarsa Vinod shot 588 in her relay while Ashi Choksey (587) and Tilottama Sen (582) also made it through from the second relay without any hiccups. PTI AH AH KHS
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