Guadalajara: Sixteen year-old Manu Bhaker clinched her second gold medal for India in the ongoing ISSF World Cup partnering Om Prakash Mitharval to bag the yellow metal in the 10m Air Pistol event on Tuesday.
Courtesy these promising performances by the shooters in the competition, India lead the medal tally in what has been a spectacular World Cup so far.
The youngster from Haryana continued to shine on her World Cup debut as a day ago, she had won an individual gold in the women’s 10m Air Rifle event, shooting 237.5, which outclassed favourite Alejandra Zavala Vasquez’s 237.1. Celine Goberville of France ended with the bronze with a score of 217.0.
Yashaswini Singh Deswal stood fourth in this category with 196.1 points, in what was her maiden final appearance.
The team of Mehuli Ghosh and Deepak Kumar fetched the country a bronze (which is India’s sixth) in the 10m Air Rifle mixed event.
The duo scored 435.1 in the final, thus ending behind the team of Alin Moldoveanu and Laura-Georgeta Coman, who shot 498.4 to settle for the silver medal. The top honours in this category went to the Chinese duo of Chen Keduo and Xu Hong, who shot a world record score of 502 for the gold.
Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar scored 348.9 to finish fourth in this category.
Never thought I would win two gold medals: Bhaker
After clinching her second gold medal helping India consolidate the top position in the medals tally, shooting sensation Manu Bhaker said that she had never thought she would put up such an impressive show.
“This is unbelievable, I never thought that I would end up winning two gold medals in a senior World Cup,” Bhaker told PTI, after partnering Om Prakash Mitharval for a gold in the 10m Air Pistol mixed event.
The prodigious shooter took up the sport just two years ago and now, she has already made an impact in her debut World Cup. She won the gold, shooting 10.6 in her final shot.
“I was a little nervous in the individual event. I shot 8.4 in the 17th shot yesterday and an 8.1 in the 19th, so I was not very comfortable but then managed to recover well,” said the Haryana girl.