Akhil Sheoran was the biggest storyline to emerge from the Karni Singh Shooting Range on Wednesday as the 29-year-old saved the day for the hosts as the lone medallist on Day 2 of the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi.
It was another day of the country’s big names biting the dust, but Akhil, whose recent exploit is bronze at the 2023 Baku World Championships, added another medal of the same colour in his pet event, Men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions.
Akhil’s bronze added to Sonam Maskar’s silver in Women’s 10m Air Rifle on Tuesday.
The start to the competition wasn’t ideal as Akhil finished 6th in qualification, but he did beat three other shooters at 589 on account of more inner 10s. India had another representation in 2016 Rio Olympian Chain Singh, and he shot a 592 to lie fourth.
Austria’s two-time Olympian and Baku gold medallist Alexander Schmirl topped with a 593 after pipping Czechia’s Jiri Privratsky (593) also by shooting higher inner 10s. Hungary’s three-time Olympian Istvan Peni followed with a 592.
It was a power-packed field with Istvan seeking his second medal of the competition after silver in Men’s 10m Air Rifle as also Jiri, the bronze medallist from that event on Tuesday.
It was to Akhil’s credit that he shut out the quality of the finalists, and focused on himself and his craft. Bronze it was as he finished with a 452.6. Istvan and Jiri shared the top-two positions, returning scores of 465.3 and 464.2, respectively.
“It’s great, I can’t even express my feelings. We had a huge crowd behind us and our favourite ‘dhol’ was playing. I was nervous but drew from the crowd’s energy,” said Akhil.
He had finished 5th at the Doha World Cup Final last year, and when he commenced the final, the thing uppermost on the mind was to finish a few notches better.
“I pushed myself and finished with a medal,” he said while making light of the challenge he faced from China’s Paris Olympic champion Yukun Liu towards close. “I was aware (of his charge) but I was only focused with my things, process and technique,” said Akhil.
The result is a sure boost, one that will inspire Akhil to prepare better for the upcoming season and Olympic cycle by pushing the limits even more.
Part of the gold medal-winning team at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, Akhil had won bronze at the Cairo World Cup earlier in the year but couldn’t make the team for the Paris Olympics.
Reigning world champion Schmirl finished 6th with a score of 419.2, followed by Chain Singh at 7th with a 409.3.
Vijayveer Sidhu and Anish Bhanwala miss finals in Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol
Much was expected of Paris Olympians Vijayveer Sidhu and the hugely experienced Anish Bhanwala in 25m rapid fire pistol men, but this competition is not proving to be a happy hunting ground for India’s top shooters, as was also apparent of Day 1 of the competition.
Shooting 581 and 580, Vijayveer and Anish, won India’s only medal at the World Cup Final in Doha last year, missed out by finishing seventh and ninth in qualification, which was won by China’s Yuehong Li.
Gold at the Paris Olympics and silver medallist at the Doho World Cup Final, Li shot 588 to score over Germany’s Florian Peter, the defending champion, by a point (587). Li’s teammate and bronze medallist at Paris, Xinjie Wang was third with a 586.
The three shooters maintained their ranking in the final with Li taking the top spot with a score of 34, followed by Florian (30) and Wang (23).
Rhythm Sangwan narrowly misses Bronze in 25m Pistol after intense shoot-off
After the heartbreak in 10m air pistol women, Paris Olympian Rhythm Sangwan registered her consecutive fourth place in 25m Pistol, losing the shoot-off for bronze to finish with a blank slate.
Rhythm shot a 584 to qualify for the final at the seventh spot, a rung below Simranpreet Kaur Brar at 585. Hungary’s Paris Olympics bronze medallist Veronika Major topped with a 593 as she upstaged Paris gold medallist Yang Jiin of Korea (590) and China’s Sixuan Feng (589), the world champion.
The final saw a shuffle in the leaderboard as Germany’s Josefin Eder notched a major career landmark with gold by shooting a score of 36. Camille Jedrzejewski, the gold medallist in Tuesday’s 10m air pistol and silver medallist from the Paris Olympics, emerged the next best name to Josefin with a score of 35. Feng (31) settled for bronze after beating Rhythm in the shoot-off.
The final was unique as it witnessed four shoot-offs, one of them featuring Simranpreet and Korea’s Jiin Yang for the sixth and seventh spots.
Ashi Chouksey and Nischal fall short in Women’s 50m Rifle Three Positions
Indian hopes rested on Ashi Chouksey and Nischal in Women’s 50m Rifle Three Positions, but the duo disappointed by failing to make the final, finishing 9th and 10th with scores of 587 and 585, respectively.
Han Jiayu topped with a 593, and pipped her Chinese teammate, world champion and Paris Olympic bronze medallist Zhang Qiongyue by a point. Norway’s defending champion Jeanette Hegg Duestad was 3rd with a score of 591.
The final was a surprise as Denmark’s Rikke Maeng Ibsen scored an upset by taking the top medal. The two-time Olympian, who got bronze in the 2022 World Cup Final in Cairo, shot 466.2 to upstage Jeanette (465.6) and Han (453.7).