Pune: Paris Games participant Arjun Babuta and Arya Borse gave India one more gold at the ISSF World Cup in Munich on Saturday. The Indian pair won the top medal in the 10m air rifle mixed event.
The gold was special as it came against Paris Games gold medallist Sheng Lihao and Zifei Wang of China.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The Indian team qualified second with a combined score of 635.2, while the Chinese shooters were first with a new qualifying World Record of 635.9. The Indians won 17-7 in the gold medal match.
In the final, the Chinese took the lead by winning the first two points, but the Indian duo sprang into action and won four consecutive
shots to take a lead of six points (8-2).
Throughout the final, Arjun and Arya never looked under pressure and sailed smoothly by hitting high 10s.
In the mixed event, the total of both players’ shots iscompared with the opponents. The pair with the highest total wins two points. Incase of a draw, both teams get one point each. Arjun, who had finished fourth in Paris, shot with Lihao, the eventual champion.
However, the Indian said he never took the pressure of playing against his old nemesis.
Quiz:
Who's that IPL player?“I have played so many finals against Sheng, and he has won all of them. He is a strong player, and I was aware of it during the
match, but I didn’t let it affect my game. We tried to focus on our technique without getting bothered by the scores,” Arjun told TOI.
Arjun couldn’t enter the final in the individual category in Munich. “I have got a new jacket and trousers and was having trouble adjusting with it during the individual match. I got it repaired, and I found it better today,” he said.
Another Indian pair in the category, Elavenil Valarivan and Kiran Jadhav finished sixth with 631.8. Other Indian shooters fired a blank in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
Paris Games double medallist Manu Bhaker and Aditya Malra were sixth with 577 on board, while Suruchi Phogat’s 100 per cent record was dented with a 10th place finish with Varun Tomar (576).
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