India’s Rhythm Sangwan secured the bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup 2023 for rifle and pistol shooters in Baku, Azerbaijan on Wednesday.
Rhythm Sangwan scored 219.1 in the final to finish third behind Anna Korakaki of Greece, a Rio 2016 Olympic champion, and Olena Kostevych of Ukraine, a gold medallist from the Athens 2004 Summer Games. It was Rhythm Sangwan’s first individual senior medal at the shooting World Cup.
Esha Singh, the other Indian in the final, finished sixth with a score of 154.8.
In the qualification round, the 19-year-old Rhythm Sangwan scored 581 to finish third and progressed to the final. Esha Singh made it to the eight-woman 24-shot final after finishing eighth with 579.
Meanwhile, India’s top shooter Manu Bhaker, who was competing for ranking points, finished 40th in the 60-shot qualification stage with a score of 570.
Divya TS failed to progress beyond the qualification round after finishing 18th after scoring 575.
In the men’s 10m air pistol event, India’s Sarabjot Singh topped the qualification stage with 589, however, he finished fourth in the final with 198.9. Sarabjot Singh won the gold medal at the Bhopal edition of the ISSF World Cup in March.
Among the other Indian shooters in the men’s 10m air pistol category, Arjun Singh Cheema finished 12th while Shiv Narwal, Ujjawal Malik and Varun Tomar finished 17th, 41st and 52nd, respectively.
India have sent a 34-member team to the ISSF World Cup Baku 2023. The event will end on May 14.