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Sonam Maskar (left) alongside gold medallist Yutin Huang and Oceanne Muller who clinched bronze. (Pic Credit: SAI)
India shooter Sonam Maskar clinched the silver medal on Tuesday at the ongoing world cup final in the national capital.
India shooter Sonam Maskar has clinched the silver medal in women’s 10m Air rifle event at the ongoing 2204 ISSF World Cup final in New Delhi on Tuesday. Olympic champion Huang Yuting of China won the gold while Oceanne Muller of France took bronze.
Tilttoma Sen, the other Indian in the final, finished sixth.
The Paris Olympics medallists have automatically qualifed for the tournament but Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale, who won the bronze, have opted to skip the event.
Besides Rhythm, rising stars such as Ganemat Sekhon (women’s skeet) will look to excel in the tournament, having earned their spots based on world rankings.
The Indian squad features nine athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympics, including Arjun Babuta (men’s 10m air rifle), Anish Bhanwala (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol.
Rhythm will compete in both the women’s 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events.
The other Olympians in the squad include Mairaj Ahmad Khan (men’s skeet), Divyansh Singh Panwar (men’s 10m air rifle), and Chain Singh (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions).
Also ready to shoot in the World Cup Final are Arjun Singh Cheema (men’s 10m air pistol), Vijayveer Sidhu (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol), Anantjeet Singh Narukha (men’s skeet), Maheshwari Chauhan (women’s skeet), Rajeshwari Kumari (women’s trap) and Shreyasi Singh (women’s trap). All these shooters competed in the Paris Games.
There are four finals lined up on each of the three competition days in this traditional ISSF season-ending showdown between the best in the world. Due to host country norms, a minimum of two Indian shooters will be in action in each of the 12 individual Olympic events on the roster.
The event got underway on Tuesday with the 10m air rifle women being the first final on the schedule, followed by the men’s final. The 10m air pistol men and women’s finals are also lined up on day one.
All the finals will be preceded by qualification rounds.
131 of the world’s top shooters from 37 countries including multiple reigning Olympic champions participate in the competition which will determine the year’s best performers in each of the 12 individual Olympic events.
The world’s top six athletes of the combined six ISSF World Cup stages held throughout year, along with Paris Olympic medallists, defending ISSF World Cup Final champions and reigning world champions have achieved direct qualification in each of the 12 events.
Three events — men’s 10m air pistol, men’s trap and women’s 25m pistol — will see all three Paris Olympic medallists compete for the top prize of 5000 euros.
All reigning champions from the previous year in Doha will also be there to defend their titles.
With PTI Inputs