New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) Arjun Babuta finished seventh in the final of the men’s 10m Air Rifle event on the opening day of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship Rifle/Pistol in Cairo. Arjun, who qualified for the finals with a score of 632.5, shot 145.0 in the finals to finish seventh.

Germany’s Maximilian Dallinger clinched the gold medal, while defending World Champion Victor Lindgren of Sweden secured silver in a tightly contested final. Olympic champion Sheng Lihao of China took the bronze.

Arjun began with a 51.9 (10.6, 9.8, 10.6, 10.5, 10.4) in the first series and followed it up with 52.3 (10.6, 10.1, 10.7, 10.2, 10.7) in the second. A low shot of 9.7 in the 11th round dropped his position in the standings, and he eventually became the second shooter to be eliminated.

In the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event, Anish Bhanwala shot an impressive 291–11x to be placed seventh after Stage 1 of the qualification round. Sameer Gulia and Adarsh Singh finished with scores of 286–3x and 285–8x, respectively. Stage 2 of the qualification will be held tomorrow, followed by the finals, where the top six shooters will qualify.

Ravindra, Elavenil shine on Day 1

Earlier on the opening day of the event, Ravinder Singh ensured the best possible start for the Indian squad on competition Day One, winning gold in the very first event of the championship (men’s 50m pistol), before two-time Olympian and Asian champion Elavenil Valarivan clinched bronze, her first individual world’s medal, in sensational fashion in the women’s 10m air rifle final won by reigning Olympic champion Ban Hyojin of Korea.

Ravinder shot 569 in the men’s free pistol to finish on top of the 47-man pile and also combined with Kamaljeet (540, 20th) and Yogesh Kumar (537, 24th) to win the team silver in the event.

Ela shot a super 633.4 in the women’s 10m air rifle qualification round to take the fifth qualifying spot, while Olympic and now world champion Ban took the eighth and final spot with a 633.0.

China’s Han Jiayu, who Ban Hyojin dethroned from the world crown, topped qualification with a searing 635.1. Also making the finals was Wang Zifei, the world record holder from China, who would win silver eventually.

Ela, as she did in Shymkent in the Asian Championships earlier this year, was in the zone from shot one of the final, opening with a 10.8.

–IANS

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