Rapid Fire Cup: Vijayveer Sidhu clinches silver medal in second final

Indian pistol shooter Vijayveer Sidhu continued the amazing performance of Indian men's pistol shooters at the Rapid Fire Cup which was also the last preparatory tournament for them before heading to the Paris Olympics 2024.

He won the silver medal at the second competition of the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol final event in Suhl, Germany on Wednesday. Vijayveer had an outstanding final and has maintained an average of 4 shots per round.

However, in the final round, he shot only 1/5, leading his total to a decent score of 29/40, which was enough for him to earn a podium finish. Clément Bessaguet (32) of France won the gold medal and became the only shooter to win medals in both finals.

Emanuel Muller of Germany confirmed the podium lineup after winning the bronze medal, having a total score of 27/35.

This was the second medal for India at the competition as earlier Anish Bhanwala also clinched the gold medal at the first final of 25m Rapid Fire Pistol on Tuesday.

Vijayveer had a poor show in the qualifying round of first competition but he bounced back well and shot a great 586 (21X) to finish on fourth position in the second qualifying round, topped by Clément with 593 (25X).

This is one of the most diverse category among all the shooting events on the basis of the level of competition. Hence, Indian shooters winning two medals at such an event before the Paris Olympics is a good sign.

But, they still have to maintain their composure and accuracy at Paris later this month as the competition level will be much more tighter there with Chinese and the Korean shooters in the field.