New Delhi [India], September 12 : Italy's Danilo Sollazzo, who finished second behind India's Rudrankksh Patil in the Cairo World Championship in 2022 and was fifth in the Paris Olympics last year, shattered the men's 10m air rifle finals world record on competition day three of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol stage in Ningbo, China on Friday.
Indian shooters meanwhile, despite some solid performances, were still searching for a first final appearance at the Ningbo World Cup, as per a press release from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
Danilo shot 255.0 in the men's air rifle final, relegating the home favourite, reigning Olympic champion and the very man whose record he broke, Sheng Lihao, to silver, shattering the Chinese ace's record by 0.5 points. Sheng shot 253.5 in the final while Korean Park Haijun won bronze.
India's former world number one Divyansh Singh Panwar shot 630.0 in qualification to finish 19th. Sweden's Paris silver medalist Victor Lindgren took the final qualifying spot with 632.3. Among other Indian contenders, young Umamahesh Maddineni finished 39th overall with 627.7, while Niraj Kumar was further back in 54th with 626.1.
In the first final of the day, Korea's pair of reigning women's pistol Olympic champions Yang Jiin and Oh Yejin ruled the roost, with Yang taking gold in the 25m pistol, the event she won in Paris, with compatriot Oh taking silver ahead of China's Xiao Jiaruixuan.
Earlier, Abhidnya Ashok Patil of India, had shot a brilliant 295 in the second rapid-fire qualification round, to total 583 and finish ninth among medal contenders and 11th overall. Korean Nam Dajung who took the eighth and final qualifying spot, also shot 583 as did France's Paris silver medalist in the event Camille Jedrzejewski. Still, the Korean went through with three shots in the inner 10 ring more than the Indian.
Divya TS shot a 290 in rapid-fire to end 16th with a total of 581, while Olympian and former Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat was a spot behind on the same score, a brilliant 295 in rapid-fire, making up for the lower tally in the precision round on Wednesday.
China is leading the medal tally currently with two of the five golds won till now, with Norway, Italy and Korea winning the others. Day four on Friday has just one final, the women's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P), on the roster, where Indian hopes of a medal will lie with the likes of Mehuli Ghosh, Surabhi Rapole and Manini Kaushik respectively.
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