ISSF World Cup: Arjun Babuta, Paarth Makhija qualify for 10m Air Rifle final

India's Arjun Babuta, Paarth Makhija qualified for the men's 10m Air Rifle final at the ISSF Shooting World Cup on Sunday. Arjun scored an impressive 630.5 in the 60-shot qualification stage to finish second in the 53-strong field. Paarth, on the other hand, finished fifth with a score of 628.4. The third Indian shooter in the Men's 10m Air Rifle event, Shahu Tushar shot 624.4 to finish 30th.

Veteran Israeli shooter Sergey Richter topped the chart with a score of 631.6. Shooters from Australia, Austria, Korea, Thailand and the USA claimed the other five qualifying spots, prominent among them being Tokyo Olympics silver medallist American Lucas Kozeniesky.

The finals of the men's 10m Air Rifle event are scheduled on Monday.

In the women's 10m Air Rifle event, it was a disappointment for the Indian shooters as none of them could make the cut for the finals. It was the 21-year-old Mehuli Ghosh who came closest with a score of 628.7 to finish 11th in the field, but she lost out on a qualifying spot by just 0.1 point. Senior debutant Ramita shot 627.4 to finish 17th while former world number one and Olympian Elavenil Valarivan finished 24th with a score 626.3.

Meanwhile, Indian shooters participating in the Trap and Air Pistol events will kick-off their campaigns on Monday. India has fielded a 32-member strong contingent in the Changwon World Cup.

More than 432 athletes from 44 countries are taking part in this edition of the World Cup.