ISSF World Cup: 33-year-old Anuradha Devi wins silver on debut

33-year-old Indian shooter Anuradha Devi stunned everyone to win the silver medal in the women's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Cairo, Egypt on Friday.

Anuradha finished behind 2016 Rio Olympic champion Anna Korakakki of Greece. Finishing eighth in the qualifying stage, Anuradha made a stupendous comeback in the final to clinch the second spot.

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 Sangwan 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 also bronze-winning Kazakh Irina Yunusmetova, who was at one stage looking comfortable for silver.

Anuradha’s final score of 239.9 in the end was 1.2 behind Korakakki. Anuradha’s feat gave India their first medal of the Olympic year’s first (of six) ISSF World Cup stage.

Earlier Sagar Dangi too had reached the final in the men’s 10m air pistol but could not capitalise fully, finishing sixth.

Paris quota holder Rhythm Sangwan had also reached the women’s final, qualifying first with a score of 584, but missed out with a fourth-place finish in the end.

Among other Indian results, Manu Bhaker shot 572 in the women’s pistol to finish 15th while Ujjwal Malik (579) and Ravinder Singh (577) also finished outside the top eight.

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