From a short-term perspective, India signed off from the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi with a much healthier haul as compared to the last edition’s sole bronze in Doha. But going into the new season, there is plenty food for thought for the national federation and its thinktank.
While a top podium spot eluded the hosts in this edition as well, Vivaan Kapoor gave enough reason to cheer with his career’s biggest medal, silver, in Men’s Trap on Thursday.
In what was the most fruitful of the three days of competition at the Karni Singh Shooting Range, Anantjeet Singh Naruka made up for the disappointment at the Paris Olympics somewhat with bronze in Men’s Skeet.
With two silver and as many bronze, India finished 9th on the medals tally.
The women drew a blank as fancied names like Rajeshwari Kumari and Shreyasi Singh in Trap, and Maheswari Chauhan failed to make the final in Women’s Skeet. Ganemat Sekhon did make the cut but finished last in the final.
Thursday belonged to the Jaipur boys as Vivaan and Anantjeet regaled the home crowd with their proficiency at shooting the clay targets. Vivaan, whose best individual performance was bronze at the 2018 Sydney Junior World Cup, bagged his first medal in the senior ranks.
Qualification was a close affair with shoot-offs deciding the five finalists’ spots after James Willett shot a 122 to top. The three-time Olympian from Australia had bagged gold at the Baku World Cup earlier in the year, and seemed to carry on in the same vein.
China’s Paris Olympic silver medalist Qi Ying broke the three-man deadlock at 120 by taking the second spot, and was followed by Vivaan.
Bhowneesh Mendiratta, the other home boy in the fray, could not make the final after getting eliminated in the other shoot-off.
Coming into his own in the final, Qi captured gold with a score of 47, three better than Vivaan but not before the Indian tested his Chinese opponent. Turkey’s Tolga Tuncer made it a memorable career outing with bronze after shooting 35.
Vivaan attributed his maiden World Cup medal to God’s grace, and thanked the vociferous home crowd for the support. “Home support always motivates me, but as an athlete you have to be focused and not get carried away,” he said, adding that after the medal, it will be onwards and upwards.
The pain of missing out on bronze at the Paris Olympics will stay with Anantjeet till he redeems himself in another edition, but the Hangzhou Asian Games silver medalist may have taken the first step towards the objective with Thursday’s showing.
It was a slow start for the 26-year-old Anantjeet and the seasoned Mairaj Ahmad Khan, the Indian duo finishing 5th and 6th in qualification with scores 121 and 119. Italy’s Tammaro Cassandro beat Qatar’s Rashid Saleh Al-Athba, bronze medalist from the Osijek World Championship two years back, in the shoot-off to decide the top spot after the two tied for 124. Another Italian, Gabriele Rosseti, gold medalist at 2016 Rio Olympics, took the third spot.
Known for their prowess, The Italians stamped their class in the final by capturing the top-two spots with scores of 57/60 and 56/60. Anantjeet was next with a 43/50.
Mairaj had a disappointing run and finished last in the six-man field with a 16/20.
Winning a medal at home is always special, but amid the high Anantjeet relived the pain of the Paris Olympics when he and Maheshwari missed out on bronze by a single target. “There isn’t a more horrible feeling than finishing fourth at an Olympics,” he said.
The Paris experience was useful as Anantjeet was determined not to allow a repeat. “When I was shooting at the last station, I kept telling myself ‘don’t miss else you’ll finish fourth again’.”
After the Paris letdown, Shreyasi and Rajeshwari too would have been keen at some redemption, but they even failed to make the final. The duo finished 8th and 11th with scores of 114 and 102, respectively.
With the Indian interest lost, the focus was on the Italian women, who like their men counterparts, bagged the top spots. Maria Silvana Stanco, the Paris Olympic silver medalist, shot a 120, and was followed by Erica Sessa, Baku World Cup champion, with 118. Turkey’s Safiye Temizdemir, silver medalist at the Rabat World Cup last year, was a point back.
The final sprang a surprise as San Marino’s Alessandra Perilli, who last major medal was bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, made a statement of intent by bagging gold with a score of 45/50. It was silver for Erica (39/50) and bronze for Safiye (33/40).
The tale was no different for India in Women’s Skeet. Maheshwari continued to cope with disappointment after Paris Olympics as she finished 8th in the 11-shooter field with a score of 117.
Ganemat, silver medalist at the 2023 Almaty World Cup, lost the qualification shoot-off to finish fourth at 122. It was an Italian top show once more as Diana Bacosi, 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist and silver at 2021 Tokyo Olympics, beat USA’s Samatha Simonton, a bronze medallist from the 2022 World Championship at Osijek, after the two tied at 124. The defending champion from Doha, Dania Jo Vizzi (122) of the USA, took the third spot by beating Ganemat in the shoot-off.
Any final calls for a reboot and is about staying and performing at that moment. Samantha was able to do that and had her revenge by pushing Diana (54/60) to the second spot with a score of 56/60. France’s Lucie Anastassiou, gold medallist at the 2022 Baku and Changwon World Cups, settled for bronze with a score of 42/50.
Ganemat was the first to be eliminated, and finished last with a score of 16/20.