ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Championship 2022: India’s 25m rapid fire pistol mixed team wins silver medal

India’s 25m rapid fire pistol mixed team comprising Simranpreet Kaur Brar and Anish lost to Ukraine in the final to settle for a silver medal at the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Championship 2022 in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday.

Simranpreet Kaur Brar and Anish went toe-to-toe with Ukraine’s Yulia Korostylova and Maksym Horodynets in the gold medal match until the very end but the Ukrainian pair won the final series to clinch the gold medal.

The young Indian shooting pair fell behind repeatedly but came back to tie the match at 6-6, 9-9, 11-11 and then finally 14-14, before going down in the 15th and final series. Anish was particularly impressive in the gold medal match, registering seven perfect fives in the 15 series.

Earlier, the Indian duo had topped both the qualifying stage 1 with 575 points and 383 points, respectively, to earn themselves a spot in the gold medal match.

Rhythm Sangwan and Vijayveer Sidhu, the other Indian pair in the fray, made it to stage 2 with a score of 560 in stage 1 but narrowly missed the cut for a medal match after finishing fifth. The top four teams from stage 2 made the cut for the medal matches.

The medal took India’s tally to 26 – 10 golds, six silvers and 10 bronze – at the Cairo meet and kept them in the second spot behind China, who have 46 medals including 21 top podium finishes.

Meanwhile, all three Indian shooters competing in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) competition on Thursday remained in contention for the Paris 2024 Olympics quota places on offer in the event after making it through the elimination relays stage.

Anjum Moudgil shot 587 to finish fourth in relay one while Sift Kaur Samra shot 585 to be placed seventh in elimination relay two along with Ashi Chouksey, who shot 581 in the same relay for an 18th-place finish.

The top four from the event will secure quota places for the Paris 2024 Summer Games.