Strong finish help India double Munich World Cup haul from last year

A string of consistent final appearances and two gold medals powered India to a commendable third-place finish at the recently concluded World Cup in Munich, one of the most prestigious and challenging tournaments on the ISSF's annual calendar. The tournament saw India register their third top-three finish this year in four World Cups, with two gold and as many bronze medals.

The team not only improved its standing from joint third last year, but also doubled its medal count, including the number of gold.

"The Munich World Cup which is an annual feature of the International Shooting calendar and is held at the revered Olympic Shooting range, which hosted the sport at the 1972 Munich Olympics, has once again brought out the best in our rifle and pistol shooters," said K. Sultan Singh, Secretary General, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

He added, "When many were saying and quite rightly so, that India will find it very tough given the large field, quality of competition and the fact that some of our best were not part of the squad, our athletes have proven that the depth in Indian shooting is more formidable than ever before.

"On behalf of the NRAI, I congratulate the entire squad including the coaches and support staff, for the amazing results, not only in Munich, but throughout the year." The high point for India at Munich this year, as also of this whole international season, has been the stunning consistency of rising women's pistol star Suruchi Singh.

The Haryana teenager won an unprecedented third consecutive individual ISSF World Cup stage gold in the women's 10m air pistol, two months after a memorable debut in Buenos Aires. She went where no Indian has ever gone before.

The other highlight was Arya Borse and Olympian Arjun Babuta's tremendous win over the Chinese world record holders Sheng Lihao and Wang Zifei, the former also the Olympic champion in the event, in the 10m air rifle mixed team final, where they completely outgunned their opponents 17-7.

With some incredible and consistent series of high scores, they showcased the depth and newfound confidence in Indian shooting. Elavenil Valarivan (women's 10m air rifle), a two-time Olympian, and Sift Kaur Samra (50m rifle 3 positions women), Olympian and world record holder, also reinforced their status as world-class shooters with their bronze-winning performances in Munich. Elavenil also set a new qualification national record of 635.9 en route to her bronze, while Suruchi equalled Manu Bhaker's qualification national mark of 588 in the women's air pistol.

In keeping with the trend this year, Indian World Cup debutants also delivered encouraging performances in strong fields. Ananya Naidu shot a solid 632.4 to finish 13th in women's 10m air rifle, while Nishant Rawat (10m air pistol men) and Aditya Malra (air pistol men) shot scores of 582 and 578 to finish 10th and 27th, respectively.

India made a total of seven finals in the 10 events in Munich, with Bhaker (women's 25m pistol), Varun Tomar (men's 10m air pistol), and Chain Singh (men's 3P) making the cut. China finished on top of the standings with seven medals, including four gold, while Norway edged India to second on the basis of having won a silver with the same number of golds and medals as India.

A total of 11 nations, including the individual neutral athletes group, won medals in Munich. The ISSF bandwagon will move to Lonato Del Garda in Italy next month for the year's fourth Shotgun World Cup stage, while the fourth and final rifle/pistol World Cup is scheduled for Ningbo in China in September.