ISSF World Cup 2023 Bhopal: Manu Bhaker wins bronze medal in 25m pistol

Manu Bhaker clinched a bronze medal in the women's 25m pistol event of the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup 2023 at the Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy in Bhopal on Saturday.

Manu Bhaker, a 2018 Youth Olympic Games gold medallist, scored 20/30 in the medal match to finish third ahead of China’s Yaxuan Xiong, who shot 12/20. World No. 2 Doreen Vennekamp of Germany claimed gold with a score of 30/40 while 15-year-old Ziyue Du of China settled for silver with 29/40.

Earlier, Manu Bhaker qualified for the ranking match after finishing third with 584 points in the qualification round. Esha Singh also made it to the ranking match after claiming the eighth spot in the qualification round.

However, Esha Singh managed 11/20 in the ranking match 1 for third place and bowed out. Doreen Vennekamp and Manu Bhaker scored identical 14/20 and made it to the medal match.

Rhythm Sangwan, with 580 points, came 12th in the field of 29 competitors. Niveditha Veloor Nair (577) and Abhidnya Ashok Patil (573) were competing for ranking points only (RPO) and claimed 17th and 21st place, respectively. 

In the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions, Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar missed out on a medal after finishing fourth in the ranking match. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar scored 102.4 in kneeling, 104.6 in prone and 198.5 in standing position for a total of 405.5 points.

Jan Lochbihler of Switzerland, the 50m rifle prone world champion, won bronze with 407.4 points. Linshu Du won gold by defeating Istvan Peni of Hungary 16-10 in the gold medal match.

Earlier, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar topped the qualification round with 591 points. Akhil Sheoran missed out on a place in the ranking round as he finished ninth with 585 points in the qualification. Swapnil Kusale, who secured a Paris 2024 Olympics quota for India in the world championship last year, came 11th with 583 points. Niraj Kumar (575) and Sanjeev Rajput (573) were competing for RPO and came 21st and 24th, respectively.

India now have a total of six medals at the Bhopal meet - one gold, one silver and four bronze. Sarabjot Singh claimed India’s solitary gold in the tournament so far in the men’s 10m air pistol on Wednesday.

China lead the medals tally with six gold medals, two silver and two bronze. The ISSF World Cup in Bhopal will conclude on Sunday.