World University Shooting Championship: Gold for India in 10-metre air rifle; Moradiya bags silver in individual event

Smit Moradiya almost pulled off a coup, but was pipped by 0.1 points for gold by the seasoned Jiri Privratsky of the Czech Republic in the 10-metre air rifle event of the World University shooting championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Monday.

When the much-known shooters, Umamahesh Maddineni and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar were pushed out of the medals table, little-known Moradiya shot brilliantly in the climax, winding up with a 10.8 that brought the roof down at the venue with applause.

It was the second individual gold for Jiri Privratsky, the 25-year-old who has 19 World Cup medals including nine gold, after his dominant show in the rifle 3-position event on Sunday.

It was some consolation for the host that the team won the gold, ahead of Korea and Hungary.

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In the women’s rifle 3-position event, Asian Games gold medallist Sift Kaur Samra tried hard despite having been stuck in the sixth position for a long and missed a medal by 0.6 points.

Sift had qualified for the final with a score of 587, but Manini Kaushik with the same score missed out. In fact, three spots in the final were made with 587, while three others missed out with the same score.

Sift, Manini and Vanshita Shahi won the team silver with 1755, one point behind Czech Republic and one point ahead of Germany.

In mixed trap, the non-Olympic event that does not feature a final, Indian teams won the silver and bronze medals behind the Czech Republic.