New Delhi [India], September 9 : The Indian mixed teams in both the rifle and pistol events missed out on medals on the opening day of the international shooting season's fourth and final International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol stage at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center in Ningbo, China, with neither pairs making it to the medal matches.
In the pistol mixed team event, the Indian pairs finished 11th and 13th in qualification, while in the rifle mixed team, the Indian pairs were placed 14th and 34th, as per a press release from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
In the Air Pistol Mixed Team event, India's first pair of Surbhi Rao (284) and Amit Sharma (290) registered a combined qualification score of 574-20x to finish 11th. The second pair, Olympian Rhythm Sangwan (289) and Nishant Rawat (282), finished 13th with a score of 571-15x.
The gold medal went to China's in-form pair, Qianxun Yao and Kai Hu, who claimed a dominant 17-5 victory over Czechia's Veronika Schejbalova and Jindrich Dubovy. This was back-to-back World Cup golds for the Chinese pair after their triumph in Munich, adding to their silvers in Buenos Aires and Lima earlier this year. Hungary's Veronika Major and Akos Karoly Nagy secured the bronze, defeating the Neutral Athletes' team of Iana Enina and Anton Aristarkhov 17-13.
In the Air Rifle Mixed Team event, India's Ramita Jindal (312.9) and Umamahesh Maddineni (315.7) shot 628.6 to finish 14th. The second pair of Meghana M. Sajjanar (312.8) and Divyansh Singh Panwar (309.3) managed 622.1, placing them 34th.
The final saw Norway's Jeanette Hegg Duestad and Jon-Hermann Hegg emerge champions with a 15-9 win over China's Xinlu Peng and Lihao Sheng, who had earlier broken the world record during qualification with 636.9. The Norwegian duo added to their gold in Lima and bronze in Munich. China's Peng and Sheng, meanwhile, collected a second successive silver. Italy's Carlotta Salafia and Danilo Dennis Sollazzo completed the podium with bronze.
-Strong international line-up awaits Indian shooters in the second day's competitions
India will look to open its medal account on Wednesday when Amit Sharma, Nishant Rawat, and Samrat Rana take to the range in the Men's 10m Air Pistol. The field will feature a high-quality line-up of 65 athletes, including China's World No.1 Hu Kai, winner of the last three World Cups' Gold, Neutral Athlete and world number five Anton Aristarkhov, and World No.6 Jason Solari of Switzerland, silver and bronze medalists respectively in Buenos Aires. Brazil's Felipe Almeida Wu, currently ranked world number eight and silver medalist in Lima, will also be in contention.
Paris Olympic medallists Federico Nilo Maldini (silver) and Paolo Monna (bronze) of Italy, alongside Hungary's Akos Karoly Nagy, add further depth to the draw. Qualification begins at 7:15 AM IST with the finals scheduled for 10 AM IST.
The Women's 25m Pistol (Precision Stage) qualification also begins tomorrow, where Olympian Rahi Sarnobat, Abhidnya Ashok Patil, and Divya T.S. from India will go up against a competitive 57-strong field.
The line-up includes Korea's Yang Jiin, Paris Olympic gold medallist and World No.5, along with Olympic silver and bronze medallist Camille Jedrzejewski of France and Veronika Major of Hungary.
World number two Yejin Oh of Korea, the reigning Olympic champion in 10m Air Pistol, World No.3 Qianxun Yao of China, and World No.8 Haniyeh Rostamiyan of Iran are also in contention. The qualification round begins at 7 AM IST.
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