India continued its domineering show at the Para Shooting World Cup in Changwon, and Saturday was about Sanjeev Giri, Bhakti Sharma, Akash and Paralympic quota winner Nihal Singh showcasing their prowess at the shooting range.
Bhakti was one more celebration of the undying human spirit, claiming silver in women’s 10m air pistol SH1 after creating a junior world record.
In the process, the 16-year-old added to Friday’s gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team with Nihal, who finished fifth in mixed 25m pistol SH1 on the opening day after losing a shoot-off to compatriot Rahul Jakhar.
Sanjeev was the other showstopper, claiming gold in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1, and he then joined hands with Akash and Nihal to bag the team gold.
Applauding the shooters, JP Nautiyal, Chairman and Chief Coach, Sports Technical Committee, Paralympic Committee of India, said, “Winning gold medals is always a great feeling but keeping the Paris Paralympics in mind, the performances can be rated as excellent.”
Akash was the top name in men’s 10m air pistol SH1 qualification, notching a score of 571 to finish ahead of Korea’s Jungnam Kim (569) and Iran’s Seyedmohammadreza Mirshafiei (568). Sanjeev finished fourth at 567. Nihal missed out on the final, finishing 9th with a score of 561.
In the final, Sanjeev turned the tables by zooming to the summit with a 235.3, eclipsing the efforts of Mirshafiei (234.8) and Kim (212.8). Akash finished fifth with a 175.5.
Like Sanjeev, Bhakti too stepped up in the final after finishing fifth in qualification with a score of 559, equalliing the junior qualification world record. Her teammate Rubina Francis topped with a score of 564, ahead of Gaelle Edon of France (563) and Iran’s Faezeh Ahmadi (562).
The 234.2 in the final was a junior world record for Bhakti and enough for silver. The gold went to Iran’s Samakhoun Shahi (239.7) and bronze to her teammate Sareh Javanmardi (214.8), who beat Rubina in a shoot-off.
Teaming up with Nihal, Bhakti’s performance in the 10m air pistol mixed team was equally forceful as India trounced Iran 16-6.
Atop the medals tally, India has 4 gold and 2 silver.