India’s Meghana Sajjanar clinched her first-ever World Cup medal, a bronze in the women’s 10m air rifle, as the country finished fifth in the season-ending ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol on Sunday.
Breakthrough for Meghana
In her first World Cup final in eight years, Meghana shot 230.0 to secure the third position. Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad won silver, while China’s Peng Xinlu dominated the event with a world record score of 255.3, surpassing Wang Zifei’s previous mark of 254.8.
Steady performance in final
Earlier, Meghana had qualified for the final with a score of 632.7, placing seventh. Despite starting at the bottom in the final, she recovered strongly in the second series and maintained consistency to stay in medal contention. Two decisive 10.4s towards the end sealed her bronze ahead of neutral athlete Mariia Vasileva.
India’s overall campaign
On Saturday, Esha Singh had bagged India’s first gold of the event in the women’s 10m air pistol. China topped the medals tally with three golds, followed by Norway with two.
Other Indian results
India also reached a second final on Sunday as Kiran Ankush Jadhav shot 590 in men’s 50m rifle 3 positions qualification to finish fourth. However, he ended eighth in the final with 406.7 after struggling in the kneeling and prone rounds.
Among other Indian performers, Swapnil Kusale scored 587 to finish 21st overall, while Babu Singh Panwar managed 583. In women’s air rifle, Olympian Ramita Jindal shot 629.8 to end 22nd and Kashika Pradhan finished with 626.6.
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