16-year-old Manu Bhaker clinches gold at the Shooting World Cup
Manu Bhaker won gold for India in her first World Cup appearance at the ongoing ISSF Shooting World Cup. The 16-year-old fought off competition from home favorite Alejandra Zavala. She overcame a 1.4 deficit, in the last shot of Women's 10m Air Pistol, to come out as the winner. India's medal tally now stands at 5 with 2 gold and 3 bronze medals.
ISSF World Cup Series
ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) World Cup Series comprises of 4 different World Cup stages in Rifle and Pistol events, and 4 different stages in the shotgun events. They along with the ISSF World Championships and Continental Championships act as the Olympic qualification competitions. The ISSF World Cup events usually take place every year between March and July.
Indians participating at the ISSF World Cup
A 33-member Indian squad has been sent to the ISSF World Cup in Mexico. They will take part in a total of 15 events including 3 mixed team events. The squad includes the likes of ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai, Apurvi Chandela, Mehuli Ghosh, Shahzar Rizvi, and Anjum Moudgil, among others. The competition will feature 404 athletes from 50 nations spread over 12 days.
Winners so far
Apart from Bhaker, the medal tally for India looks like- gold and bronze for Shahzar Rizvi, and Jitu Rai respectively in Men's 10m Air Pistol; bronze for Mehuli Ghosh in Women's 10m Air Rifle; and bronze for Ravi Kumar in Men's 10m Air Rifle.
