Manu’s golden double

Pistol champion Bhaker picks up second mixed team gold while Rahi Sarnobat settles for individual silver as India finish tournament with five medals

Manu Bhaker bagged her second mixed team gold medal while Rahi Sarnobat pocketed the women’s 25m pistol silver at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) President’s Cup that concluded in Wroclaw, Poland on Tuesday. 

Bhaker bagged her second gold on the final day partnering Turkey’s Ozgur Varlik in the 25m rapid fire pistol mixed team competition. She had earlier partnered Iran’s Javad Foroughi to clinch the 10m air pistol mixed team title on Day Two of the competition.

Team India thus finished with a total of five medals in the prestigious year-ending event. The seasoned Sarnobat, who is known to be a strong finals shooter, was in her element again in the women’s 25m pistol final. She shot 3s and 4s consistently to climb from fifth place initially to second after the fifth five-shot series. She was just three points behind the gold medal-winning German Doreen Veenekamp, going into the 10thand final series. 

India’s Rahi Sarnobat with her silver in the 25m pistol event

Sarnobat eventually finished with a score of 31—just two behind Veenekamp. It was a tough field, featuring Rio Olympic champion Anna Korakaki of Greece and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Xiao Jiaruixuan of China among others. 

Bhaker, the second Indian in this field, finished sixth with a score of 17. However, Manu returned soon after to partner Turkey’s Varlik and win the 25m rapid fire pistol mixed team gold, beating the Chinese-Estonian pair of Xiao and Peeter Olesk 9-7. 

The Indo-Turkish pair opened up a healthy 6-2 lead in the early stages, before Xiao and Peeter fought back to level things at 6-6. Bhaker and Varlik then went ahead 8-6 before tying the final series at 5-5 to earn the crucial ninth point and seal the deal. Earlier in the competition, Saurabh Chaudhary had bagged a silver while Abhishek Verma picked up a bronze in the men’s 10m air pistol competition.

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