India finishes second in ISSF World Cup Baku

Manini Kaushik reached her first senior World Cup stage career final, finishing sixth in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) event as India ended their engagements at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Baku.

Manini shot 415.6 in the final, which was won by Briton Seonaid McIntosh, who finished with 467.0. China’s double Olympic medallist Li Yuehong won the other final of the concluding day, the men’s 25-metre rapid-fire pistol (RFP), helping his country top the medal tally with four gold, one silver, and two bronze medals, even as India finished second with one gold, two silvers, and one bronze in their kitty.

For her first final at this level, Manini shot well and was placed fifth after the first 15 shots in the kneeling and prone positions. Briton Seonaid Mcintosh had established a significant lead at the top of the field, about 1.6 clear of second-placed Norwegian Jeannette Hegg Duestad. She did well to hold her position after the first 10 shots in the final standing position as well, when the eighth and seventh shooters got eliminated. However, a 9.2 for her 41st shot meant that Manini had to be satisfied with a sixth-place finish.

Among the other Indians in the women’s 3P, Anjum Moudgil was 18th with a qualification round score of 573, while Sift Kaur Samra shot 571 for a 21st-place finish. Shriyanka Sadangi and Nishchal are playing for ranking points only. shot scores of 572 and 569, respectively.

Indian shooters also narrowly missed the finals qualifying mark in the men’s RFP when Vijayveer Sidhu shot 580 for a ninth-place finish and Anish, with 579, finished in 13th position. The top six in the event qualify for the finals.

Ankur Goel, the third Indian contender in the field, shot 566 and finished in the 36th spot. Adarsh Singh, shooting for ranking points, shot 578, while Arpit Goel, also shooting for ranking points, registered 564.