ISSF World Cup 2024 Granada: Manu Bhaker wins bronze medal in 10m air pistol

Youth Olympic Games champion Manu Bhaker clinched a bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol at the ISSF World Cup 2024 in Granada, Spain on Friday.

Bhaker, who represented India at the Tokyo Olympics, was third in the qualification round with 576 points and qualified for the final, where she scored 215.1 for the bronze. Klaudia Bres of Poland shot 236.2 for the gold medal while Mexico’s Andrea Ibarra also shot 236.2 points but had to settle for silver after losing the shoot-off.

Rhythm Sangwan topped the qualifying round with 580 points. However, the Indian shooter was the first to be eliminated in the final, finishing eighth with a score of 111.4 after a poor first stage.

Divya TS, Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Anuradha Devi also competed in the women’s 10m air pistol shooting event.

Divya TS came eighth in the qualifying round with a score of 575 but she was competing for ranking points only (RPO). Yashaswini Singh Deswal, also shooting under RPO, came 31st with a total of 568. Anuradha Devi was 36th with 565.

Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan will be in action again in the mixed-team event on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Indian shooters drew a blank in the men’s 10m air pistol event. Sarabjot Singh, Ravinder Singh and Ujjawal Malik, competing for medals, failed to finish in the top eight. Sagar Dangi and Varun Tomar were competing under RPO.

The ISSF World Cup in Granada will also have competitions in the 10m rifle events.

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, India’s most successful shooter at the Asian Games 2023, Olympian Divyansh Singh Panwar, Mehuli Ghosh, an Asian Games silver medallist, and Olympian Elavenil Valarivan will compete in the rifle shooting events.

A 34-member Indian contingent is taking part in the ISSF World Cup in Granada, which has junior and senior 10m air gun competitions on schedule. India won nine medals, including four gold, in the junior events earlier.