india-s-debutant-anuradha-devi-clinches-silver-at-issf-world-cup

At the ISSF World Cup in Cairo, Egypt, debutant Anuradha Devi secured a silver medal in the women's 10m air pistol event, coming in second behind Rio Olympic champion Anna Korakakki of Greece. Anuradha, aged 33, clinched the eighth and final qualifying spot before delivering an impressive final performance to claim the runner-up position on Friday.

 

Anuradha's achievement marked India's first medal in the opening stage of the Olympic year's ISSF World Cup, which consists of six stages. In the men's 10m air pistol event, Sagar Dangi also reached the final but finished in sixth place without fully capitalising on the opportunity. Rhythm Sangwan, who had secured a quota for Paris, qualified first in the women's event with a score of 584. However, despite her strong performance, she missed out on a medal, ultimately finishing fourth in the final.

 

Anuradha had shot 575 in qualification and just about qualified on higher inner 10s, but in the final, she held her own and shot like a pro. She had a great second five-shot series in the 24-shot final to move up to second at the end of 10-shots, with Korakakki in a class of her own at the top.

 

In between, Rhythm moved ahead of her after the 15th, but Anuradha came back with a vengeance with seven straight scores of 10 or above to not only account for her countrywoman but beat Kazakh Irina Yunusmetova to bag the silver.

 

Anuradha's final score of 239.9 in the end was 1.2 behind Korakakki. Among other Indian results, Manu Bhaker shot 572 in the women's pistol event to finish 15th, while Ujjwal Malik (579) and Ravinder Singh (577) also finished outside the top eight.

 

In the men trap, Zoravar Sandhu was the best-placed Indian with a three-round score of 70 and currently is in share of the 15th spot while in the women's trap, Rajeshwari Kumari was lying 19th with a score of 64.