Golden start for India

New Delhi, Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu combined to give India their first gold medal at the ISSF World Cup Final, clinching the top honours in the 10m air pistol mixed team event on the opening day of competition here today. The duo shot 483.4 in the final to finish on top.
It’s the first time the mixed team events are being held officially at an ISSF World Cup. These events were organised as test events at the World Cups held earlier this year and are scheduled to be included for the first time at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Despite trailing the leaders by 2.5 points after the first series of five shots, Heena and Rai gradually closed the gap to give the hosts a positive start in the prestigious tournament that is being organised for the first time in the country. France’s Florian Fouquet and Celine Goberville bagged the silver medal with 481.1 points. The bronze medal was awarded to Yang Wei and Cai Xiaoxue of China, who shot 418.2 points.
A multiple medallist in top international events, Rai will also gun for glory in the 10m free pistol and 50m pistol events in the tournament. This was the Indian pair’s third gold in the event this year, having won both the test events at the two earlier World Cup stages in New Delhi and Gabala. It was Heena’s second gold at the prestigious tournament — she had won the individual 10m air pistol gold in 2013. For Rai, this was his second medal at the World Cup Final, having won the silver last year in the 50m pistol event.
On target
In the final, where each team shoots 30 shots before the start of the elimination rounds, the Indian pair started slowly but a magnificent 10.9 by Rai on his 15th and 17th shots took them closer to gold. A 10.8 in his 21st shot was also crucial, while Heena stayed consistent throughout the final. They finished with a combined total of 483.4 after 48 shots.
“It feels great to win here in front of our people, even if this puts a little extra pressure on us,” said Heena. “There were high expectations from us, and that’s why we trained together a lot in the last few days.”
“We like this format, it’s a bit longer than the other ones but we definitely like it,” added Rai. Raninder Singh, president of the National Rifle Association of India, was delighted with the great start by India. “Both Heena and Jitu shot brilliantly. The inclusion of the mixed events in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will give India an edge,” he said.
Deepak-Meghana fourth
In the 10m air rifle mixed event, Deepak Kumar and Meghana Sajjanar had to be content with a fourth-place finish. The Indian pair, which suffered a two-shot penalty for shooting in the wrong sequence, could have finished on the podium but for the error. In the mixed team trap, Spain’s Antonio Bailon and Beatrice Martinez won gold by shooting 42 out of 50 in the final round. They beat Italy’s Giovanni Pellielo and Jessica Rossi to silver. The Italian pair scored 40 while USA’s Derrek Haldeman and Ashley Carroll won bronze with a final round score of 31.