Shotgun World Cup: India's Prithviraj Tondaiman, Kynan Chenai on course for final, women's trap team exits

India’s Prithviraj Tondaiman shot two perfect rounds of 25, while teammate Kynan Chenai missed just one bird to stay on course for the men’s trap finals at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup being held at Acapulco, Mexico.

Monday was the first day of qualifying in the men’s trap event.

Prithviraj was in a group of seven shooters, in a field of 107, who shot a perfect 50 after the first two rounds.

Chenai shot 49, while the seasoned Manavjit Sandhu secured a score of 46, a press release from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) stated.

Three more rounds of qualifying will take place on Tuesday before the top six make it to the finals. There are two Tokyo 2020 quota places up for grabs in this event.

However, the women’s trap team bowed out of the event.

Italy’s former Olympic and world champion Jessica Rossi picked up the first gold medal of the competition, also claiming a Tokyo 2020 quota place for her country in the process as she won the women’s trap with a final round score of 45.

She finished ahead of Australian Laetisha Scanlan (43).

China’s Deng Weiyun won the other quota place on offer with a bronze after shooting a score of 32 in the finals. Laetisha had already secured her quota earlier and was not eligible here.

The seasoned Shagun Chowdhary was the best Indian finisher in the women’s trap event, securing the 19th spot with a score of 116 out of 125. Rajeshwari Kumari came in 36th with 112 while Varsha Varman shot 105 to end in the 52nd place.