The Indian contingent got off to a golden start at the ISSF World Cup being held at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in New Delhi. India is hosting the World Cup for the first time in its history.
Heena Sidhu and Jitu Rai won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event on the opening day of the tournament. This marks their third gold together in the said event. The mixed team competitions were launched earlier this year and will be making their Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020. As a result, the world shooting body (ISSF) is still tweaking the rules to find the best fit and is yet to determine the final format of the event.
In a shoot-out between 5 teams in the final, the Indian duo shot a combined total of 483.4 to take home the title. As it progressed, both Heena and Jitu got a lid on things in the 40 shots match. Heena shot 94, 96, 95 and 97(/100) to acquire a total of 382. Rai had a series of 97, 96, 95 and 97 to round up 385. He held his nerve and scored five ten shots in a row in the final round.
As India clinched top spot, France (481.1) and China (418.2) followed to take silver and bronze. Jitu will continue his run for glory in the 10m free pistol and 50m pistol in the coming few days.
– Varun Kumar | SpreadSports
