New Delhi, April 10: All three Indian shooters in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) competition at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Granada, Spain, could not advance beyond the qualification stage. Surabhi Bharadwaj Rapole and Olympian Anjum Moudgil each scored 587 to finish in 18th and 19th places, respectively. Ayushi Podder scored 585 to finish 27th. The eighth and final qualification spot went to a score of 589.
Also, on Friday, Ankur Goel was the best-placed Indian in the men's 25m rapid-fire pistol (RFP) competition, with a score of 289 after the first stage precision round. Olympian Vijayveer Sidhu scored 287, while Neeraj Kumar scored 282. The trio will compete again on Saturday for the second rapid-fire qualification stage, with the top eight progressing to the final.
Saturday, the penultimate day of the competition, also features the women's 10m air pistol finals, with Indian shooters including reigning Asian Games champion Palak, Sainyam, and Meenu Pathak. India has so far won one gold medal from the Granada World Cup leg.
Earlier on Thursday, Divya TS's creditable fourth-place finish in the women's 25m pistol and Gajanan Khandagale's fighting fifth-place finish in the men's 10m air rifle at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol competition at Las Gabias Shooting Range were highlights of the day.
Divya shot 28 in her third individual World Cup final to finish just outside the medals, while Gajanan finished with 187.5 in the men's air rifle final. Rhythm Sangwan also made it to the top 8 in the women's 25m pistol.
Xiao Jiaruixuan, the Chinese medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, won gold in the event after two rounds of shoot-offs were needed to separate her from her teenage compatriot and debutant, Kong Jieru. Both had tied with 39 hits after the regulation 10-series of five rapid-fire shots. Camille Jedrzejewski, the Paris Olympics bronze medalist, edged out Divya for the bronze medal, finishing with 34 hits after the penultimate series.