New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) Teenager Parth Rakesh Mane finished seventh in the 10m air rifle men’s final at the hallowed Olympic Shooting range in Munich, as India took many positives at the end of the competition on the first day of the year’s second International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol leg.
The youngster from Maharashtra had earlier shattered the junior national record with an effort of 633.6 in qualification, which gave him third spot in the classy 149-strong field. Korea and China shared the two gold medals on the day. Parth’s qualification score was bettered only by the eventual gold medallist and former 50m rifle three positions (3P) Olympic champion Zhang Changhong (636.3) of China and Paris silver medallist Victor Lindgren (633.9) of Sweden.
Mane began the final with a solid 10.8 and even finished the first five-shot series with the same score, finding himself in fourth at that stage with just 0.7 separating the leader Chang from fifth-placed Peter Gorsa, the Croatian legend. Korean Shin Minki then shot a perfect 10.9 to begin the second five-shot series, and Mane found himself sliding down to eighth after a high-scoring second series.
Going into his 12th shot of the 24-shot final, also the first elimination stage, Mane was 0.2 behind Lucas Kryzs of France, but a 9.9 from big scoring Norwegian Hegg saw him earn two more shots for himself. Those two, however, would be his last two shots of his first senior international final, as he bowed out after the 14th with his score reading 145.8. Shin won silver and Lindgren bronze as Chang closed out with a perfect 10.9 and a score of 242.8.
Earlier, two other Indians in the qualification, Shahu Tushar Mane (630.5) and Arjun Babuta (627.5), finished 25th and 63rd, respectively.
Korea’s Hong Suhyeon took the first gold of the tournament, winning the men’s 10m air pistol, with an effort of 241.4 in the final. Jason Solari of Switzerland took silver while Hsieh Hsiang-Chen of Chinese Taipei won bronze.
Reigning world champion Samrat Rana of India finished just outside the top eight with a score of 582. Ajendra Singh Chauhan, on his India debut, shot 578 for 28th spot while Shravan Kumar’s 575 gave him 46th place in the 142-strong field.
Esha begins well in women’s 25m pistol
The day also saw the first precision stage of the women’s 25m pistol play out, and India’s Esha Singh struck form with a 293, giving her sixth place for now. Manu Bhaker (288) and Rahi Sarnobat (287) have more to do than Esha on Wednesday’s rapid-fire round to make the top eight.
All three Indians in contention in the women’s 3P, whose final also comes up on Wednesday (May 27, 2026), along with the women’s sport pistol, sailed through their elimination relays unscathed. Vidarsa Vinod shot 588 in her relay, while Ashi Choksey (587) and Tilottama Sen (582) also made it through from the second relay without any hiccups.
RPO Shooters excel
Several Indian shooters who have travelled to Munich as RPO (Ranking Points Only) shooters, that is, to record scores and not contend for medals, also excelled at the Olympic Shooting range.
The best among them was a 635.7, more than the existing national record by Arjun Babuta (635.1), by Himanshu Dhillon in the men’s 10m air rifle qualifications. Young pistol talent Gavin Antony also shot a 585 in the men’s 10m air pistol qualifiers and would have been the only Indian to make the cut, had he been in contention. Nupur Kumrawat in the women’s 3P also shot a 589, the best Indian score in the event on the day.
–IANS
bsk/