ISSF World Cup 2024: Rhythm, Ujjawal clinch gold as India tops medal tally

Rhythm Sangwan and Ujjawal Malik won the mixed air pistol gold medal, beating the Armenian pair of Elmira Karapetyan and Benik Khlghatyan 17-7 in the World Cup in Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday.

It was a welcome revival of fortunes for Rhythm, who had missed a medal in women’s air pistol after having topped qualification with 584. Anuradha Devi had done well to spring up to the silver medal after having qualified with a modest score of 574 in women’s air pistol on Friday.

In the mixed air rifle gold medal match, qualification toppers Sonam Maskar and Arjun Babuta were beaten 16-14 by the British team of Seonaid McIntosh and Dean Bale.

With its gold and two silver medals, India tops the medals table, ahead of Kazakhstan, Greece, Britain and Korea, the other gold winning teams.

In men’s trap, Zoravar Singh sandhu shot 118 and missed the final by one point. He was 14th in a field of 104 shooters, and was undone by a second round of 21. Olympic quota winner Bhowneesh Mendiratta (114) and Prithviraj Tondaiman (112) placed 37th and 59th respectively.

Lakshay Sheoran (115) and Vivaan Kapoor (113) could not fare much better in the Ranking Points Only (RPO) section.

In women’s trap, Olympic quota winner Rajeshwari Kumari shot 110 for the 14th place, as she missed the final by two points. Manisha Keer (109) and Bhavya Tripathi (106) placed 16th and 21st respectively.