ISSF World Cup China: Sainyam clinches silver medal in 10m air pistol

India's Sainyam clinched her maiden ISSF World Cup medal, winning a silver in the women's 10m air pistol final in Hangzhou, China, on Friday.

The 22-year-old shot 243.4 points in the final and fell just short of reigning world champion Qianxun Yao (243.6 points) of China by 0.2  points. Iran's Haniyeh Rostamiyan bagged a bronze.

Meanwhile, Suruchi Phogat’s winning streak at the World Cup Circuit ended as she finished seventh with 137.6 points. She had four World Cup and World Cup final titles since her debut last year.

Earlier, two-time Olympian Manu Bhaker, competing as an RPO athlete, finished fourth overall in the qualification round with a score of 582 points.

Suruchi and Sainyam had qualified for the finals with 579 points, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, with the latter winning India's first medal in Hangzhou.

These two also shared the podium last year at the ISSF World Cup Final in Doha, where Suruchi bagged a gold, and Sainyam settled for a silver medal.

After the first five-shot series, the experienced Suruchi was in joint lead while Sainyam was in the fifth spot.

However, a superb 51.9 in the second series of five shots saw Sainyam climb to the top to share the lead with Yao with an overall score of 101.6 points.

She then comfortably maintained her place among the top throughout the remainder of the final.

After 16 shots, Sainyam trailed Yao by 1.2 points, but showed remarkable composure to close the gap steadily, eventually finishing just 0.2 points behind to claim the silver medal.