Indian shooters off target on Day 2

NEWDELHI: It was a disappointing day for India at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup. If pistol shooter Neeraj Kumar was unimpressive in the men’s rapid fire pistol, Zoravar Singh Sandhu missed out on bronze in men’s trap at the Karni Singh Shooting Ranges.

On Saturday morning, the Chinese shooters excelled in 25m rapid fire pistol by winning gold and silver. The afternoon belonged to the Italian duo of Simone Ambrosio and Giovanni Pellielo, who won gold and silver in men’s trap. Zoravar had a good start, as of the six shooters in the final he was in the top three till the halfway stage with a score of 21/25. He missed two shots in the second half and that ended his dreams of winning at least a bronze.

National coach Marcelo Dradi was defensive, saying it was bad luck. “He did well in training and qualification (118) but missed out in the final.”

Zoravar was candid, saying pressure sneaked in. “The final was tough. I wasn’t bad on technique but mentally it was tough. Of course, the others shot better,” he said.

Neeraj performed well in qualification to enter the final in rapid fire pistol, but found the going tough in the medal round.

Of the six shooters in fray, Neeraj was shaky from the start and could manage only nine hits out of 20. After the 20 shots, he was at the bottom and was the first shooter to be eliminated.

The Chinese pair of Jaijie Lao and Lin Junmin had the best start in the final, scoring 14 and 12 hits in the first stage, and continued with their efforts in the second. After 40 shots, both had 31 hits and in the shoot off Lao won gold with five hits, while Lin settled for silver with three.

On Friday, China had won two gold and one silver.