Bhavesh Shekhawat in strong position after Stage 1 of 25m Rapid Fire Pistol qualification

Bhavesh Shekhawat Standing in the centre.

Khel Today Bureau

New Delhi: India’s Bhavesh Shekhawat produced a strong performance on Day 4 of the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Ningbo, China, finishing third at the end of Stage 1 in the Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (RPF) qualification to remain in contention for a place in the finals. However, in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, the Indian challenge fell short with none of the shooters making it to the final round.

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In the RPF event, Bhavesh shot a composed 293-9x with series of 97, 99, and 97 to be placed third overnight. Germany’s Emanuel Mueller leads the field with 295-12x, followed by France’s Clement Bessaguet with 294-11x. Among the other Indians, Pradeep Singh Shekhawat is placed 24th with 288-8x (98, 95, 95) while Mandeep Singh is 43rd with 272-5x (93, 91, 88).

50m Rifle 3P Women Medal Winners (L-R) Rikki Maeng Ibsen (DEN), Jeanette Hegg Duestad (NOR) and Barbora Dubska (CZE). 

In the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions final, World No.1 Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway clinched her second gold of the competition with a score of 466.2, having earlier won in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team. Duestad, who has also claimed World Cup gold this year in Munich and Silver in Lima, was followed by Denmark’s Rikki Maeng Ibsen with silver on 463.3 and Czechia’s Barbora Dubska who secured bronze with 451.4.

For India, Mehuli Ghosh finished 23rd with a total of 583-23x (194 in kneeling, 196 in prone, 193 in standing), while Manini Kaushik shot 580-22x (191, 197, 192) for 45th place. Surabhi Bhardwaj Rapole ended 52nd with 578-23x (193, 196, 189).

Action continues at Ningbo Olympic Sports Center with Stage 2 of the RPF qualification beginning at 7:00 AM IST, followed by the final at 12:00 noon IST where the top six shooters will battle for medals.

India will also see Olympians Rhythm Sangwan and Esha Singh, alongside Surabhi Rao, compete in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol (APW) qualification. The field of 59 athletes includes some of the world’s top names such as World No.2 and 10m Air Pistol Mixed team gold medallist Qianxun Yao of China and World No.5 Camille Jedrzejewski of France, silver medallist at the Munich World Cup. Qualification for APW begins at 7:15 AM IST with the final scheduled for 10 AM IST.