Changwon: The mixed team pair of Mehuli Ghosh and Shahu Tushar Mane sealed India's second medal at the ISSF Shooting World Cup, here on Tuesday, by setting up the gold medal match against Hungary. In-form Mehuli and Shahu topped the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team qualifiers with a score of 634.4 after 60 shots to finish well ahead of the strong Hungarian pair of Istvan Peni and Eszter Meszaros, who finished second with 630.3.
India and Hungary will lock horns on Wednesday to decide the winner. Meanwhile, in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event, Shiva and Palak shot 574 and qualified for the bronze medal match. Shiva and Palak finished behind the Greek pairing of Anna Korakaki and Dionysios Korakakis, who scored 579. The top spot was claimed by Olympic champion Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec of Serbia, who shot 584.
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India will take on Kazakhstan's in the bronze play-off. Two other Indian pairs -- Naveen and Rhythm Sangwan in 10m air pistol mixed team and Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan in the corresponding rifle competition -- could not make the grade after both the teams scored 570 and 627.8 respectively to finish in the eighth position.
Shooters miss out on podium finishes
Earlier in the day, India missed out on about five medals as none of the top qualifiers in men's and women's 10m Air Pistol as well as in the men's trap, could make their opportunities count. In the men's 10m Air Pistol discipline, India had three qualifiers in the top eight ranking round but Naveen finished fourth with an effort of 250.7. Shiva Narwal was fifth with 199.7 and was followed by Sagar Dangi (199.2).
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In the women's 10m Air Pistol event, India's lone ranking round qualifier Yuvika Tomar ended seventh with 147.1 points. In the men's trap event, young Vivaan Kapoor shot a brilliant 122 out of 125 to qualify third among eight qualifiers but ended fourth in his match to miss out on the medals. India has won one gold through Arjun Babuta (10m Air Rifle) so far in the tournament and is currently placed fourth on the medal tally.
PTI
