PTI
Cairo, February 21
Reigning world champion Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil won gold in the men’s 10m air rifle competition of the ISSF Shooting World Cup here today, extending India’s dominance in the tournament.
India now has five medals, including three gold. This was also Patil’s second gold of the tournament after winning his first alongside R Narmada Nithin in the 10m air rifle mixed team event on Monday.
World No. 1 Patil got the better of Germany’s Maximilian Ulbrich 16-8 in the gold medal contest.
Patil also topped the ranking round with a total score of 262.0, while Ulbrich scored a 260.6. Earlier, Patil qualified for the ranking matches after finishing seventh in the qualification round with a score of 629.3.
The other Indian shooters in the fray — Divyansh Singh Panwar and Hriday Hazarika — narrowly missed out on qualification.
In the ranking round, where the top eight qualifiers face off over five series of five single shots each to determine the top-two for the gold medal match, seasoned Israeli shooter Sergey Richter led after the first series with Patil 1.2 points behind in fifth.
In the second series, the Indian got going and a perfect 10.9 gave him the lead for the first time. He held on to that slender 0.2 lead over Croat Miran Maricic till the end of the third series and by the end of the fourth it became 1.1.
Israel’s Richter was holding on to the third position. With only four shooters left in the fray, Patil topped with a score of 262 after 25 shots. However, Maricic and Richter faltered as Ulbrich came up quietly to finish second with a 260.6. Maricic managed bronze with a 260.5.
In the gold medal contest, Patil and Ulbrich were tied at 7-7 after the first seven single shots.
However, Patil took the next three series to lead 13-7 despite the German coach calling for a timeout after the ninth series.
Ulbrich kept fighting and earned a tie in the 11th series but Patil closed it out clinically in the 12th.
In the women’s category, Tilottama Sen claimed bronze. She ended the top eight ranking round with a score of 262.0, missing out on the gold medal match by the narrowest possible margin of 0.1.
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