ISSF President's Cup: Rahi Sarnobat, Manu Bhaker make sport pistol final

Wroclaw (Poland): India’s Rahi Sarnobat and Manu Bhaker qualified for the finals in the women’s 25m pistol event on competition day five of the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) President’s Cup on Monday. Both the Olympians shot identical scores of 583 in qualification, but Rahi took fourth place ahead of Manu’s fifth on higher inner 10s. The eight-shooter final is scheduled on Wednesday. It was triple delight for Bhaker as she also qualified for the gold medal match in the 25m rapid fire mixed team pistol event, assuring her of at least a silver to add to the gold she won with Iran’s Javad Foroughi in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. Bhaker partnered Turkey’s Ozgur Varlik to first make the second qualification stage of eight pairs and then finished second to the Chinese/Estonian combine of Xiao Jiaruixuan and Peeter Olesk to make the gold medal round. That final will also take place on Wednesday. Among the other Indians on show on Monday, Chinki Yadav finished ninth in women’s 25m pistol event with a score of 578, while Anjum Moudgil ended ninth in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions with an effort of 584. The inaugural ISSF President’s Cup is a rechristened version of the ISSF World Cup Finals, where the year’s top 12 shooters according to world ranking are invited to determine the best individual athletes of the year in the respective Olympic events. Individual winners will be awarded The Golden Target along with prize money. Cash awards will also be given to all the shooters in the individual competitions.