New Delhi: Indian debutants Suruchi Phogat, still a teenager, and Sainyam bagged gold and silver medals respectively in the 10m air pistol women’s event to cause the biggest flutter at the Lusail Shooting Complex in Doha on the opening competition day of the season-ending International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final (WCF) Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun on Saturday.
Suruchi shot a junior world record score of 245.1 in the eight-woman final, to leave her senior teammate 1.8 behind in second. This is the first time India has registered a double podium in the premium year-ending ISSF showdown between the year’s best shooters and Olympic and World Championship medalists. China’s Yao Qianxun won bronze with 219.4.
Earlier, Suruchi finished second in qualification with a score of 586, while double Olympic bronze medallist Manu Bhaker qualified sixth with a score of 578. Sainyam, who made the World Cup Finals cut through the world ranking route, clinched the eighth and last spot with a sub-par 573.
Sainyam was strongest off the blocks in the final; however, despite Suruchi shooting a 10.9 for her first shot. She fired two more 10-plus scores for her 11th and then, incredibly and crucially for her 19th, to draw level with Sainyam after being 2.7 behind her after the 12th single shot.
China’s world No. 3 Qian Wei was the first to exit the final as big names like reigning Olympic champion Oh Yejin of Korea and former world champion and multiple-time Olympic medallist Jiang Ranxin of China were finding it difficult to hit the center of the 10-ring consistently.
Sainyam’s work in the first two five-shot series was enough to get her to silver, but it was Suruchi who turned it on in the end stages to stamp her authority, not only on this final, but on the year as a whole. She closed with a 10.6 and a 10.2 to obliterate the junior world record and win a sixth ISSF medal in 2025, four of them golds.
Manu, a two-time WCF gold medallist, eventually finished fifth.
Speaking to ISSF after the match, a calm and composed Suruchi said, “After the second series, I told myself this is what I should be doing, and I should not be looking at the score, and it worked.”
Samrat bags bronze
World champion Samrat Rana then bagged a bronze in the men’s air pistol, finishing with a score of 221.5, bowing out at the 22nd shot mark of the 24-shot final.
Rana had his chances to go all the way, but a superb 10.9 for his 20th was followed by an 8.4 for the 21st, and that forced him to settle for third to clinch a first-career WCF medal. Varun Tomar, the world championship bronze medalist and the second Indian in the final, also had his chances but ended fourth with 201.2.
Hu Kai of China won gold with 243.0, and German legend Christian Reitz clinched silver, a point behind.
“I like this range, and winning bronze in the first-ever World Cup final is an achievement for me. I was struggling in the last 1-2 shots, but I enjoyed it, and I am happy. I am gaining confidence in competing with the Olympic and World champions, and that feels great,” said Rana to ISSF after the match.
In the first two finals of the day, China’s Wang Zifei and Sweden’s Victor Lindgren won the women’s and men’s 10m air rifle competitions, respectively. India’s lone qualifier in the women’s air rifle, Elavenil Valarivan, missed qualifying for the final by a whisker, shooting 630.8 to finish ninth among the 12 shooters.
In the men’s air rifle, Arjun Babuta was third in qualifying, with a strong 633.3, making it his fifth consecutive world and continental final since the Paris Olympics, while Rudrankksh, another consistent cog in India’s air rifle wheel, was fourth with a steady 631.9. Patil ended fourth in the final while Arjun was sixth, as both missed out on medals.
At the end of the day, China won two of the four finals while India and Sweden shared the other two. India, with three medals, one of each colour, are second in the tally behind China, who have five medals.
(IANS)
