India’s Suruchi and Saurabh Chaudhary struck gold in style at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun in Lima, Peru, winning the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team title with a commanding 17-9 victory over China’s Yao Qianxun and Hu Kai.
This marks Suruchi’s third ISSF World Cup gold and Saurabh’s ninth, including his fifth gold in the mixed team event, adding to a previous silver in the same category.
The Indian duo entered the gold medal match with a combined qualification score of 580, with the teenage Suruchi outshooting her experienced partner by a couple of points. The Chinese team had topped the qualification charts with 585.
In the final at the Las Palmas Shooting Range, the Chinese started strong, taking early leads of 6-2 and 8-4. However, a timely timeout by coach Samaresh Jung turned the tide in India’s favour. Suruchi remained consistent throughout, and whenever she missed the 10-ring, Tokyo Olympian Saurabh responded with precision, including a spectacular 10.9 on his first hit.
After tying the scores at 9-9 in the eighth series, the Indians surged ahead in the 10th, taking an 11-9 lead and never looked back. They sealed the win in the next three series, capitalising on errors by the Chinese under pressure. Fittingly, they closed the match with high scores of 10.6 (Suruchi) and 10.5 (Saurabh), while both Chinese shooters faltered outside the 10-ring.
Meanwhile, the second Indian pair, Manu Bhaker and Ravinder Singh, finished fourth, losing 6-16 to the second Chinese duo Zhang Yifan and Ma Qianke in the bronze medal match. They had also placed fourth in qualification with a combined total of 579.
(With ANI inputs)
