India kicked off their ISSF World Cup campaign in Lima with a spectacular all-round performance on Tuesday, bagging medals of all three colours on the opening day. Rising star Suruchi Singh and double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker delivered a memorable 1-2 finish for India in Women’s 10m Air Pistol, while Olympian Saurabh Chaudhary made a strong return to form with a bronze in Men’s 10m Air Pistol.
The spotlight shone brightly on 18-year-old Suruchi Singh, who clinched her second consecutive World Cup gold with a stunning score of 243.6 in the final. She edged past fellow Indian and star shooter Manu Bhaker by 1.3 points, who secured silver with a commendable performance. China’s Yao Qianxun, who had finished fourth at the Buenos Aires World Cup, took the bronze.
The triumph adds another milestone to Suruchi’s meteoric rise, following her rare clean sweep of youth, junior, and senior titles at the Nationals last December and her gold at the National Games in Dehradun. With two major international titles in quick succession, Suruchi is fast emerging as one of the brightest stars in Indian shooting.
In the qualification round, Suruchi showcased her consistency, finishing second with a score of 582, while Manu closely followed in fourth with 578. Their compatriot Sainyam narrowly missed the final, finishing 11th with 571.
In the final, Suruchi had a composed start, placed third after the first ten shots with 101.3, behind China’s Yao and Meng Yufei. Manu was in fourth with 99.9. But as the elimination phase kicked in, Suruchi surged ahead with calm precision, taking the lead and holding onto it through to the final shot to seal the gold. Her poised performance under pressure highlighted her mental strength and growing maturity on the global stage.
Reflecting on her victory, Suruchi said: “I was not stressed and I don’t care who’s competing with me, as my competition is with myself. I have to shoot my best.”
Manu Bhaker, who returned to the podium with her first international medal since the Paris Olympics, praised her younger teammate. “It makes me really happy to see young Indian shooters coming up and doing well at the international level,” said Bhaker. “Suruchi has done exceptionally well both in Buenos Aires and now in Lima and I hope this continues for a long time. At the same time, I hope to keep the pace up with the youngsters.”
Reflecting on her own performance, she added, “It feels good to be back at the podium. I feel I improved a lot from last time, especially in the finals. The qualifications could have been better, but every day is a learning curve and I will try to improve on it next time.”
Among other Indian contenders in the women’s event, Surbhi Rao (577) and Simranpreet Kaur Brar (576) posted strong scores but did not make the final as they were competing under the Ranking Points Only (RPO) category.
Saurabh Chaudhary marks strong comeback with Bronze in Men’s 10m Air Pistol
Earlier in the day, Saurabh Chaudhary added to India’s medal tally by clinching bronze in Men’s 10m Air Pistol. The 2018 Asian Games gold medallist marked a strong comeback with his first individual ISSF medal in two years. Just last week, he partnered with Suruchi to win bronze in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team in Buenos Aires, though he had finished 16th in the individual category.
The men’s final saw a gripping intra-family duel between Saurabh and his nephew Varun Tomar. Varun began strongly, holding second place after the first ten shots with 100.3, while Saurabh was in fourth with 99.8. Varun stayed ahead until the 14th shot, but Saurabh’s experience shone through as he surged ahead in the latter stages to claim bronze with 219.1 (578). Varun eventually finished fourth with 198.1 (576), improving on his fifth-place finish at the Buenos Aires World Cup.
China’s Hu Kai continued his golden streak by clinching the men’s title with a commanding 246.4 (586), securing his second consecutive World Cup gold. Brazil’s Felipe Almeida Wu, the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist, earned silver with 241.0 (578).
Among other Indian shooters in the men’s field, Aaakash Bhardwaj posted the third-best qualification score of 583 but did not advance to the final due to RPO status. Ravinder Singh (574) narrowly missed the final in ninth, while Amit Sharma (573) also competed under RPO.
With two individual medals in the women’s event and a men’s bronze, India’s shooting contingent has made a strong statement in Lima, signaling a promising run for the rest of the competition.