India's Tilottama Sen, all of 14, won bronze in the women's 10m Air Rifle at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol, currently underway in Cairo, Egypt. It was another profitable day for India with Rudrankksh Patil earlier winning gold in the men's Air Rifle. India is currently on top of the medal tally with three golds, with Hungary, Britain and Slovakia winning the other three awarded.
Tilottama ended the top eight ranking round with a score of 262.0, missing out on the gold medal match by the narrowest possible margin of 0.1. Her medal was India's fifth of the competition, a second bronze to add to three golds.
Earlier, Tilottama, finished second in the qualification round with a score of 632.7. She was joined in the top eights by two other Indians- Ramita, yet another teenager, who shot 630.6 to take the sixth qualifying spot and the winner of the Air Rifle Mixed Team event, Narmada Nithin, who grabbed the eighth and final spot with an effort of 630.5. Narmada finished seventh in the ranking round, while Ramita grabbed fourth spot behind Tilottama's bronze finish. Great Britain's Seonaid Mcintosh, beat Switzerland's Olympic Champion Nina Christen 16-8 in the decider to win gold.
Put your hands together for the youngest medal winner of the team. Congratulations �� #TeamIndia #OneTeam #ShootingStar #India #Shooting #issfworldcup pic.twitter.com/Ben2asakI9
- NRAI (@OfficialNRAI) February 21, 2023
Reigning world champion, Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil, won his first individual senior world cup stage gold, upstaging German challenger Maxmillian Ulbrich 16-8 in the gold medal match of the men's 10m Air Rifle competition. This was Rudrankksh's second gold of the tournament, after he had won the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event on Monday, alongside R. Narmada Nithin.
Rudrankksh shot 629.3 in his qualification relay to rank sixth among shooters competing for a medal. In-fact, teammate Shahu Tushar Mane was the best Indian in the 73-strong field with a score of 630.9, placing him second overall but he was fighting for ranking points only.
The world champion trailed initially in the first series of the ranking round but held his lead throughout after gaining it in the second. Ulbrich rallied late to finish second and set up the decider against Rudrankksh for gold.
The scores were tied 7-7 after the first seven single shots. However, Rudrankksh took the next three series to lead 13-7, despite the German coach calling for a timeout after the ninth series. Ulbrich kept fighting, earning a tie in the 11th series but Rudrankksh closed it out clinically in the 12th and raised his arms in celebration.
(With inputs from PTI)