ISSF World Cup: Rhythm Sangwan wins 10m air pistol bronze at Baku

Rhythm Sangwan, on Wednesday, opened India's medal tally at the ongoing 2023 ISSF Shooting World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan by bagging a bronze in women's 10m Air Pistol. This is the first World Cup since ISSF pivoted back to the old tried and tested format for the final.

Sangwan finished with a score of 219.1 behind Ukraine's Olena Kostevych and Greece's Anna Korakaki.

The 19-year-old Indian was not at her best in the final with a total of 8 out of 22 shots below the ten-point mark. She even dipped below nine with shots of 8.7 and 8.8 in the final, but managed to pull things back as even her competitors faltered under pressure.

"It was hard in the final, but I am happy that I ended up with a medal at the end," said Rhythm Sangwan, who had earlier finished third in the qualification round with a score of 581.

She will now be in action in the women's 25m sports pistol later in Baku.

Among the other Indians in action in women's 10m air pistol, the young Esha Singh finished sixth with a score of 154.8, while TS Divya failed to make it into the final after finishing a lowly 18th in qualification.

Manu Bhaker, who was competing for Ranking Points Only (RPO), too had a disappointing day as she finished 40th in qualification with a score of 570.

Sarabjot finishes 4th

On the other hand, India's Sarabjot Singh finished fourth in men's 10m air pistol earlier in the day. The 21-year-old faltered in the final after topping the qualification round with an incredible score of 589.

All the other Indians in the men's section had a forgettable outing as Shiva Narwal finished 17th in the qualification round, while Varun Tomar finished 52nd.

Cheema Arjun Singh and Ujjwal Malik, who were competing for RPO, finished 12th and 41st respectively.