Meerut, UTTAR PRADESH :
Highlights
- Rizvi pipped Rio Games gold medallist Christian Reitz and teammate Jitu Rai for the yellow metal
- He broke Japanese legend Tomoyuki Matsuda’s record of 241.8, which was created last year
- Rizvi displayed confidence and it reflected in his performance as he shot only seven shots below 10
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Pune :
Shooting in his first ISSF World Cup, Shahzar Rizvi showed nerves of steel as he clinched gold with a world record score in the men’s 10m air pistol event at ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Saturday.
Rizvi, 24, pipped Rio Games gold medallist Christian Reitz and teammate Jitu Rai for the yellow metal by scoring 242.3 in the final.
He broke Japanese legend Tomoyuki Matsuda’s record of 241.8, which was created in October last year.
Reitz finished second with a score of 239.7, while Rai secured bronze after scoring 219 in the final.
Another Indian, Om Prakash Mitharval, 23, who was also participating in his first senior World Cup, missed out on winning a medal after finishing fourth with a score of 198.4.
This is perhaps the first time that three Indians had entered the medal round of a World Cup.
With a score of 579, Rizvi was the top-scorer among the Indians and second in the top-eight qualifiers, while Rai was third with a score of 578. This is the first World Cup for Rizvi, and so is for Mitharval, who was fourth with a score of 576.
In the final, the Indians got off to good starts. After completion of 10 shots, Rizvi, with 99.4 points was second behind Brazil’s Julio Almeida (101.8), while Rai and Mitharval kept themselves in top-5.
Rizvi displayed confidence and it reflected in his performance as the Meerut boy shot only seven shots below 10. His best was 10.8, while his lowest shot was an 8.5.
Rai on the other hand was a little inconsistent. His 10 shots ranged between 9 to 9.9 that pulled him down in the ranking. Just before the 20th shot, the Army shooter was at risk of getting eliminated, but he saved himself by shooting 10.6 and 10.4 to finish 0.1 point ahead of Mitharval, who shot 10.7 and 9.2 to finish with 198.4 points.
Meanwhile, in the women’s 10m air rifle event, teenager Mehuli Ghosh, along with Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil entered the final along with three Chinese shooters.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> Sports News> Shooting / by Tushar Dutt / TNN / March 04th, 2018