New Delhi: Reigning Asian champion and two-time Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar reaffirmed his class with a sublime display at the ISSF rifle/pistol World Championships, claiming silver in the 50m 3 Position event in Cairo on Tuesday.
Tomar shot 466.9 in the eight-man final, just 0.2 points behind China’s Olympic champion Liu Yukun, who secured a wire-to-wire victory in the final. Tomar though had his chance till the last competition shot.
The 24-year-old gave signs of things to come in the 60-shot qualification round itself, nailing two perfect series each in the kneeling and prone segments. With 200/200 in kneeling and prone behind him, Tomar missed the mark only thrice across two standing series of 10 shots each, ending the qualification phase at 597 with 40 10s. With that Tomar equalled the qualification world record, held jointly by Liu and compatriot Du Linshu.
The 50m 3P final comprises three series of 15 shots in each segment with elimination beginning after the tenth shot in the final series (Standing). The medal round had Liu hit the straps in the first kneeling series itself, aggregating 52.1 in five hits, 0.1 ahead of Tomar.
A poor 8.6 in his sixth kneeling shot by Tomar allowed the Chinese to start breaking away. With a 2.7-point lead after the kneeling round, Liu looked set to cruise but the Indian came back strongly in his favourite prone sequence. A series of 53.3, 52.7 and 52.7 meant the deficit was reduced to just 0.2 points.
A nerveless 10.8 for his first standing hit — against 10.6 by Liu — saw Tomar draw level. However, Liu nosed ahead in the very next shot, a 10.0 against Tomar’s 9.9 handing him a 0.1-point lead.
The 13th shot had Liu hitting 10.4 while Tomar came up with another 9.9, the gap extending to 0.6 points. Liu shot a poor 9.7 on the 14th and penultimate try to aggregate 457.0 and Tomar capitalised with a 10.4 to take the slightest possible lead (0.1). Liu shot 10.1 on his last competition shot, leaving Tomar to hit 10.1 or more to take gold.
Tomar managed only 9.8, taking silver with a total of 466.9 in the high-quality final while Liu completed the golden double of adding the world title (467.1) to his Olympic gold. France’s 20-year-old Romain Aufrere won bronze, totalling 454.8.
Niraj Kumar, the other Indian in the competition, also had a decent outing as he finished a creditable fifth in the final. Niraj shot 592 in qualification to enter the final in fifth place and was placed fourth after the kneeling series in the medal round. A poor prone round dropped him to sixth before a late recovery in the standing section ensured fifth (432.6) in his first World Championships final.
Esha-Samrat pair wins silver
In the day’s second final in the 10m air pistol mixed event, India’s Esha Singh and Samrat Rana topped qualification with a combined effort of 586, with both shooting identical 293s. India’s other pair Suruchi and Shravan Kumar shot 579 to end eighth. Only four pairs compete in the medal rounds of mixed team finals with the top two vying for gold and the next two shooting for bronze.
Esha and Samrat were up against the Chinese world No.1 Hu Kai and world No.2 Yao Qianxun in the gold medal match. Hu and Yao were in form as well, having won silver and gold respectively in their individual events on Monday.
The race to 16 points lasted for 13 rounds and both pairs were tied at nine points apiece after nine rounds. The Chinese then took the next three rounds, and despite India tying the 13th, the Chinese proved too good.
Esha had won the event with Shiva Narwal in the last Worlds while Rana marked his Worlds debut with two golds (individual and men’s team) and this silver medal.
The results mean India continue to stay second, behind China, with three gold, five silver and three bronze medals. China have eight gold, four silver and two bronze medals for 14 podium finishes so far.
