On day four of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship Juniors in Changwon, Korea, Harmehar Singh Lally and Sanjana Sood of India won a silver medal in the skeet mixed team event.
Harmehar and Sanjana had to suffer a grueling 52-shot shoot-off, which they eventually won 26-24, en route to the final, which they lost 38-43 against Andrea Galardini and Sara Bongini of Italy.
China increased its lead over India in the medal standings by winning two more gold medals on day four of the event. India has won four gold medals, four silver medals, and three bronze medals so far in the competition (ISSF Junior).
Harmehard and Sanjana qualified with a total score of 140 out of 150, however they were tied for second place with Americans Benjamin Keller and Jessi Griffin. The Italians had won the 16-team tournament with a score of 141.
A shoot-off was then held to determine who would face the Italian in the final, and the Indian and American combination shown incredible courage and talent by not missing a single target in the first 48 rounds. The Americans eventually missed as the Indians hit their 25th and 26th doubles. They did, however, take bronze.
The Indians struggled from the start of the gold medal match, missing five of their first 16 targets against the Italians’ two. Harmehar and Sanjana both missed five of their 24-targets each in the final, whereas the Italians missed five overall to coast to victory.
Sartaj Singh Tiwana took the final eighth qualifying slot in the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) event with a tally of 584, but finished fourth to lose out on a medal. Sartaj was 0.5 shots ahead of his Chinese opponent Ye Yishun at the 43rd hole of the 45-shot final, but his 8.9 to Ye’s 10.2 meant he fell short by 0.8. France’s Romain Aufrere won gold, his second of the event.
Shivam Dabas shot 580 to finish 15th in Men’s 3P, Parikshit Singh Brar 579 to finish 20th, Ramanya Tomer 576 to finish 27th, Harsh Singla 571 to finish 41st, and Vedant Waghmare shot 571 to finish 45th overall.
Payal Khatri was the only Indian to reach the final of the women’s 25m Pistol with a score of 578. She, too, ended fourth with 22 hits, while China’s Zuo Qingyi won gold with 34 hits. Korea and the United States finished second and third, respectively.
Among the other Indians Simranpreet Kaur Brar (574) was 15th, and Naamya Kapoor (571) was 20th.
Source:IANS