Olympian Divyansh Singh Panwar won the gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle shooting event with a World record score at the ISSF World Cup in Cairo .
The Indian shot 632.4 to top the qualification round to qualify for the medal round alongside compatriot Arjun Babuta, who came fourth in qualifying with 630.7. Sandeep Singh, with 630.4, came seventh while Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil was 11th with 629.3. Both, however, were competing for ranking points only.
In the finals, Divyansh came up trumps yet again with a score of 253.7 – a world record score, eclipsing China shooter Sheng Lihao’s 253.3, set at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year.
Italy’s Danilo Dennis Sollazzo claimed the silver medal with 251.8 while Serbian shooter Lazar Kovacevic bagged bronze with 230.6. Arjun Babuta finished in sixth position with a score of 166.1.
Later in the day, Sonam Uttam Maskar, competing in her first ISSF World Cup, bagged the silver medal in the women’s 10m air rifle competition at the Egypt International Olympic City Shooting range.
Sonam shot 252.1 in the eight-woman final, finishing 0.9 behind Germany’s Anna Janssen. Poland’s Aneta Stankiewicz (230.4) won bronze, pipping India’s Nancy (209.5) to the final podium.
Sonam and Nancy had made the final after shooting scores of 632.7 and 633.1, respectively to finish the 60-shot qualification round in fifth and fourth spots, respectively.. Tilottama Sen was 29th in qualification with a score of 627.6 while Ramita, playing for RPO, was 10th after shooting 632.0.
With two golds and three silvers, India currently top the medals tally at the first ISSF World Cup of the year.