Cairo, Nov 11 (IANS) Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar continued his stellar form on the international stage, clinching the silver medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event at the ISSF World Championships in Cairo on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old, who has been one of India’s most consistent rifle shooters in recent years, shot 466.9 in a tense final to finish second behind China’s Yukun Liu (467.1). France’s Romain Aufrere took the bronze with 454.8, while India’s Niraj Kumar also put up a strong performance, finishing fifth with 432.6.

Earlier in the day, Aishwary had already made headlines by equalling the world record in qualification, shooting 597-40x to comfortably advance to the final. His compatriot Niraj also qualified with an impressive 592, underlining India’s depth in rifle shooting.

Aishwary maintained his composure in a closely fought final that saw the top three separated by less than two points through most of the contest. He briefly led after the prone series before being edged out by Liu in the final few shots.

On Monday, in the men’s 10m air pistol event, Samrat Rana delivered a performance for the ages to earn India’s first-ever gold in the discipline at the World Championships.

Rana shot a total of 243.7, finishing 0.4 points ahead of China’s Hu Kai, while Varun Tomar took the bronze with 221.7, ensuring a double podium for India.

The 21-year-old Rana’s composure in the tense final was remarkable. He trailed early on but produced back-to-back 10.9s in the closing stages to seize the lead. He needed a 10.3 or higher on the last shot to clinch gold — and delivered with a 10.6.

Rana had earlier topped the qualification with 586, followed closely by Tomar, also on 586. The duo, along with Shravan Kumar (582), combined to win the men’s 10m air pistol team gold, adding to India’s growing tally.

–IANS

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