ISSF World Cup Shotgun: Neeru And Vivaan Win Trap Mixed Team Bronze

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) The pair of Neeru Dhanda and Vivaan Kapoor won bronze in the trap mixed team event on Sunday, helping India conclude the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on a high.

Neeru and Vivaan shot 24 out of the first 30 targets in the final and, despite matching the top Italian pair of Silvana Stanco and Mauro De Filippis, had to miss out on a better medal, having finished second to the silver-winning Italians in qualification. Chinese Taipei’s Kun-Pi Yang and Wan-Yu Liu won a second World Cup gold with a world record score of 36 in the final.

Vivaan and Neeru had shot 143 in qualification, finishing just two behind Silvana, a Paris Olympic silver medalist, and Mauro, a former world champion in the event. Both shot perfect third rounds of 25 each to confirm their final spots, with Vivaan missing two out of his 75 targets.

Teammates Ahvar Rizvi and Pragati Dubey shot 130 to finish 23rd in the 31-team competition.

After the first 10 targets in the decider, Kun and Wan led the field with a perfect score. Neeru missed her third, to put India in second after Vivaan shot down all five of his targets to extend his qualification form.

Italy and China were fighting for third place, having hit five of their first 10 targets. Italy won that fight by one hit after 20 targets, as Chinese Taipei extended their lead by two over India, as Neeru missed two targets more.

The Italians then showed their class in the third series, missing none, even as Vivaan missed his first of the final on his 13th shot. In the end, both pairs ended up on the same score, with the Italians surviving because of their qualification performance.

It was still a commendable first ISSF World Cup medal for Neeru and Vivaan in the Olympic event, and India’s second since it became an Olympic event last year.

Asian and National champion Neeru Dhanda made the final of the women’s trap competition at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun in Almaty, Kazakhstan, finishing seventh with seven hits after the first elimination stage of 10 shots.

The Indian, despite shooting all five targets in the second five-shot series, could not recover from three misses in the first, with all three podium spots going to Olympic medalists. Australian Penny Smith, the Paris Olympics bronze medalist, won gold with a world record 30 out of 30 hits, while Spain’s Tokyo Olympics Mixed Team champion Fatima Galvez won silver with 25. Women’s trap legend Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova of Slovakia, a three-time Olympic medalist and former world and Olympic champion, won bronze.

Earlier, Neeru had surged up the world-class field, firing rounds of 23 and 25 to finish with a career-best qualification score in ISSF competitions. Her 116 (23,23,22,23,25) and a perfect final round helped her clinch the eighth and final qualification spot, after beginning the day in 21st position. It would be her second World Cup final in two years after finishing fourth in Lonato last year.

Teammates Manisha Keer and Pragati Dubey shot scores of 112 (24,24,21,21,22) and 111 (18,23,24,24,22) to finish 26th and 29th, respectively.

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