New Delhi, March 27, 2021: India’s teenage pairing of Vijayveer Sidhu and Tejaswini in the 25M Rapid Fire Pistol Mixed Team event, won gold on competition day nine of the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun stage at New Delhi’s Dr Karni Singh Shooting range on Saturday, beating compatriots Gurpreet Singh and Abhidnya Ashok Patil 9-1, in a one-sided final. 

 

This was India’s 13thgold medal of the tournament, and with eight silver and six bronze medals also in the kitty, India’s tally with one more day to go stands at a whopping 27 medals.

 

The hosts also lead the medal tally by quite a distance from the United States of America (USA), who lie second with three gold, three silver and one bronze medal for a tally of seven medals. Italy is third with two gold and two bronze medals, while Denmark is fourth with two gold and one bronze to show for their efforts so far.

 

In the second final of the day, the Italian pair of Alessia Iezzi and Valerio Grazini struck gold in the Trap Mixed Team competition, when they defeated Slovakia’s Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova and Adrian Drobny 39-36 in the gold medal match. The Trap Mixed Team is an Olympic discipline.

 

The Indian pair of Sreyashi Singh and Kynan Chenai, had made it through to the bronze medal match in the Trap Mixed Team, after shooting 141 out of 150 in the qualification round. They stood fourth among 13 teams and faced the Turkish pairing of Yavuz Ilnam and Safiye Sariturk for a shot at a World Cup medal.

 

However, the Turkish pair, riding on a brilliant performance by Yavuz, who shot down 23 out of the allotted 25 targets, claimed the bronze, with the final scoreline reading 38-35 in their favour, after 50 shots.

 

The 10thand final competition day on Sunday has three finals on schedule. The first final is the 25M Rapid Fire Pistol Team Men competition while the World Cup ends with two Shotgun finals, namely the Trap Team Women and Men competitions.