ISSF World C'ships: No medal on second day; India's wait for Olympic quota continues

Indian shooters endured another disappointing day at the ISSF World Championships here on Wednesday, failing to compete for medals in both the 10m air rifle mixed team and 25m rapid fire pistol events, while a disqualification further compounded the team's woes.

The 10m air rifle mixed team pair of Sonam Uttam Maskar and Himanshu Dhillon failed to qualify for the four-team final, finishing seventh with an aggregate of 632.4. Sonam shot 316.6, while Himanshu returned 315.8.

The other Indian pair, Shambhavi Kshirsagar and Parth Mane, was disqualified after the former fell foul of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) rules pertaining to apparel and equipment.

It was Shambhavi's second disqualification in a major competition in five months for a similar violation. She had also been disqualified at the ISSF Junior World Championships in Suhl, Germany, in June, costing India a potential women's team medal.

India's medal hopes also fizzled out in the 25m rapid fire pistol event, with none of the three shooters managing to make the eight-shooter final.

Bhavesh Shekhawat was the best-placed Indian, finishing with an aggregate of 582 over two days of qualification.

Gurpreet Singh finished 18th with 579, while Suraj Sharma was placed 35th with 571. India's combined score of 1,732 earned it sixth place in the team competition.

The World Championships mark the beginning of the qualification process for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but India are yet to win an individual medal in an Olympic discipline or secure a quota place for the Games.

India have so far won team gold and an individual silver in the men's 50m pistol, an event that is not part of the Olympics, besides a team silver in the women's 10m air rifle.

However, only individual medals in Olympic events count towards securing quota places for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed)