India finished their ISSF Shooting World Cup campaign in Changwon on Wednesday by leading the medal tally with a haul of 15 medals, including five gold, six silver, and four bronze.
On the tournament’s last day, the Indian trio of Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu, and Sameer bagged the silver in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol team event.
The Indians were expected to top the podium and, at one point, had a good lead of 10-2 against the formidable Czech side of Martin Podhrasky, Tomas Tehan, and Matej Rampula. But the Indians were panicky and went down 15-17 to finish second. In the skeet mixed team event, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Mufaddal Deesawala finished ninth out of 17 teams with a score of 138 out of 150.
India was victorious in all five ISSF World Cup stages in 2019, one in the abridged 2021 season and once again in Cairo in the first stage this year.
The next major championship for the Indian rifle and pistol shooters will be the long-awaited ISSF World Championship scheduled in Cairo in October this year.
A good performance by the Indian shooters at the World Championships may give them a chance to represent India at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
