New Delhi (IANS) | Rhythm Sangwan broke a 29-year-old world record but missed out on a second medal at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Baku, Azerbaijan, finishing eighth in the women’s 25m pistol event.
Rhythm, who won her maiden individual Senior World Cup stage medal with a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol on Wednesday, shot an impressive score of 595 to top the 25m pistol qualification earlier in the day, beating Bulgaria’s Diana Broke the world record set by Igoreva in 1994 in Milan.
It was equaled twice thereafter, most recently by German Doren Wennekamp at the Bhopal World Cup in March this year. Doren won bronze here in Baku, while China’s Feng Sixuan shot 38 in the final to win her second consecutive World Cup gold, while Iranian silver medalist Haniyeh Rostamian hit 33. Rhythm was the first out in the eight women’s final with 10 hits in the first four five-shot series.
Rhythm actually broke two world records on the day as she also took the junior women’s 25m pistol qualification record.
India recorded a no-medal day for the first time in the tournament even though Rhythm topped the qualification with 595, with teammates Isha Singh and Manu Bhaker finishing 13th and 27th with scores of 582 and 578 respectively. Abhyad Ashok Patil, playing for ranking points, registered a score of 576.
Also, in the second final of the day, all three Indian contenders in the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) finished outside the top eight positions. Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar shot 586 to finish 10th, while Akhil Sheoran shot 585 to finish 13th and Swapnil Kusale shot 583 to finish 22nd. Pankaj Mukherjee secured only 581 marks.
The first precision qualification round for the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol (RFP) took place on the same day, where India’s Vijayveer Sidhu shot a solid score of 293 and is currently among the top scores. There will be a second rapid-fire round of qualification before the RFP final on Sunday, the last day of competition. The final of the Baku World Cup will be the Women’s 3P on Sunday.
–IANS
