Apurvi Chandela bags silver at ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals

Munich: Young Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela impressed again as she clinched the silver medal in women’s 10m air rifle event of the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals being held in Munich. The 22-year-old Jaipur girl finished second on the podium after she tallied 206.9, just 0.6 behind Ahmadi Elaheh of Iran, who won the gold medal with a tally of 207.5 on Saturday. Andrea Arsovic of Serbia bagged the bronze after prevailing in a shoot-off with Croatia’s Valentina Gustin. [caption id=“attachment_2422508” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Apurvi Chandela. Getty[/caption] In the finals, Chandela started on a rousing note as she fired two shots of 10.8 to lead after Series 1 of first competition stage. A total of 30.6 in the second series saw her a drop a place. Thereafter, the Indian managed to remain in contention for a medal. Chandela’s final shot was a 10.2, which was just 0.2 less than the eventual winner Ahmadi Elaheh, who shot a 10.4. The reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist has already earned the country a quota place for next year’s Rio Olympics by claiming the 10m air rifle bronze at the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) in Changwon, Korea, in April. Shooters with 10 best scores in each event of the year’s four World Cups are entitled to compete in the finals. London Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang and Gurpreet Singh had earlier reached the finals of their respective events in the tournament, but missed out on medals. PTI