JITU, HEENA STRIKE GOLD IN AIR PISTOL MIXED TEAM EVENT
was a positive start for the Indian contingent as ace pistol shooter Heena Sidhu and Jitu Rai combined well to win the first gold of the World Cup Finals that got underway here at the Karni Singh Shooting Ranges on Tuesday.
In the five teams final, the pair of Heena and Rai shot 483.4 to win the 10m air pistol mixed team event. Silver went to France with a total of 481.1 and China took home bronze with a score of 418.2.
After the first five-shot series, the Indian pair was trailing behind France and China. Their position didn’t change after the second series of fiveshot as well.
Only in the third series did Heena and Rai work their way up, taking second position behind France.
Thereafter, it was battle between India and France. When the race for the title began, India had an edge over France. India’s score was 424.4 compared to France’s 421.6. Heena and Rai made full use of the last six shots to bring home the gold.
Earlier in the qualification rounds, both Heena and Rai started on a nervous note despite being tipped favourites. Heena started with a series of 94/100, followed by a series of 96, 95 and shot 97 in the fourth and
It was challenging but we remained focused throughout the final. It helped us to win top position HEENA SIDHU, India shooter
last series for a total of 382.
Rai too managed to stay calm under pressure and had a series of 97, 96, 95 and 97 for a total of 385.
In fact Rai started the last series of ten shots when he had just ten minutes left to complete the match. However, he didn’t wilt under pressure and scored five ten shots in a row to take his score to 97.
Heena said the result will encourage others. “It was challenging but we remained focused throughout the final. It helped us to win top position,’’ she said, adding that yet again they had proven to be a good combination. “He (Rai) doesn’t succumb to pressure or experiments after a bad shot. That’s the good part.”
Deepak Kumar and Meghana Sajjanar failed to win gold in the 10m air rifle mixed team event. Kumar and Meghana survived a fifth place shoot off with Iran but weren’t able to catch up with the top three teams---Serbia and two Chinese teams (No 1 and No 2. They finished fourth with a total of 387.4.