Olympic quota winner Apurvi Chandela started her year on a high by winning the gold with a world record in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle at the Swedish Cup.
The Jaipur girl who turned 23 on January 4 shot 211.2 in the finals to surpass the world record of 211.0 held by China’s current Olympic champion Yi Siling.
The 23-year old shot the highest qualification score of 418.3 (102.8, 106.3, 105.2, 104.0) and followed it up with record breaking performance in the finals to claim the title with a big margin of 3.6 points.
The silver and bronze went to Swedish shooters Astrid Steffensen (207.6) and Stine Nielsen (185.0).
An elated Chandela said, “This gold at Sweden has further strengthened my resolve to bag a medal at the Rio Olympics this year. The support, encouragement and wishes received from my well wishers has stood me in good stead in various international tournaments”.
Chandela who is currently ranked 7 in the world had ended 2015 with a gold in at the 59th National Shooting Championship in New Delhi last month. Her tally at the Nationals was 207.8 in the final, and 417.0 in the qualification.
Chandela had won an Olympic quota place for India after winning a bronze with a score of 418.4 (185.6)in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea in April last year.
She had also impressed in the ISSF World Cup Finals in Munich, by clinching the silver medal with a score of 416.4 (206.9) in September last year, only behind Ahmadi Elaheh of Iran who eventually won the gold, by scoring 10.4 in the final shot, just 0.2 points ahead of the Indian.
The Results:
Women 10m Air Rifle: 1. Apurvi Chandela 211.2 (418.3); 2. Astrid Steffensen (Den) 207.6 (413.7); 3. Stine Nielsen (Den) 185.0 (414.7).