India’s Suruchi Inder Singh and Saurabh Chaudhary delivered a stirring comeback to claim the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the ISSF World Cup in Lima on Wednesday, marking a second triumph in two days for the teenage shooter from Jhajjar.
The Indian duo overcame a strong Chinese pairing of Qianxun Yao and Kai Hu 17-9 in the gold medal match at the Las Palmas shooting range, after initially trailing in the contest. Meanwhile, fellow Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Ravinder Singh fell short in the bronze medal match, losing 6-16 to China’s Qianke Ma and Yifan Zhang.
Having already clinched the individual gold in the women’s 10m air pistol on Tuesday, Suruchi became the standout performer of the event. She and Chaudhary had made the gold medal match after scoring a combined 580 in qualification, with Suruchi outscoring her Tokyo Olympics medallist partner by two points. The Chinese pair, however, had topped the qualification with 585.
In the final, Yao and Hu took early leads of 6-2 and then 8-4, threatening to run away with the match. A timely timeout called by India coach Samaresh Jung helped arrest the momentum, allowing the Indian pair to regroup.
Suruchi maintained composure throughout, frequently hitting the 10-ring, while Saurabh’s opening 10.9 and other high scores compensated whenever his partner fell slightly short.
After a brief levelling of scores at 9-9 following the eighth series, the Indians pushed ahead 11-9 by the 10th series and maintained their grip on the contest thereafter. The clincher came with shots of 10.6 (Suruchi) and 10.5 (Saurabh) as the Chinese duo faltered under pressure, failing to hit the 10-ring.
Earlier, Suruchi had capped a remarkable individual outing by winning her second consecutive ISSF World Cup gold in the 10m air pistol event. She tallied 243.6 points in the 24-shot final to finish 1.3 points ahead of Manu Bhaker, who took silver. China’s Yao Qianxun claimed bronze.
The win added to Suruchi’s gold medal at the season-opening World Cup in Buenos Aires, where she had also bagged the mixed team bronze with Saurabh.
The 18-year-old, who began making headlines after an impressive run in the national championships in December, appears to be in the form of her career. She qualified second in the 60-shot round with 582, while Manu secured fourth place with 578. The third Indian in the fray, Sainyam, missed the final, finishing 11th with 571.
In the final, Suruchi climbed quickly to second after the first five-shot series, trailing China’s Yao, with Manu in fourth.
Despite dropping to third after the second series, Suruchi fought back as China’s Meng Yufei faltered. By the 13th single shot, the two Indian shooters had risen to first and second positions.
Manu, however, suffered setbacks with a few low 9s in her 16th and 17th shots. Though she stayed in contention, it was Suruchi who proved the more consistent shooter, extending her lead in the final stages.
Yao mounted a late charge to take the bronze, pushing Uruguay’s Julieta Jimenez off the podium. But the top two positions remained firmly in Indian hands, with Suruchi sealing gold with two strong final shots.
“I am happy to see more Indian shooters coming up and doing very well, especially at the international stage. It makes me really happy and I feel India is going in the right direction,” said Manu Bhaker, who won individual silver and previously clinched medals at the Paris Olympics.
“We all are familiar with Suruchi’s name. She did exceptionally well in Buenos Aires (World Cup) as well as here. So, I am really happy for her and I hope that this continues for a long time. And, along with the youngsters, I hope that I also keep the pace up,” she added.
India’s strong performance in Lima placed them at the top of the overall medal standings, ahead of China, which has so far secured the men’s 10m air pistol gold.
The gold and silver medals won by Suruchi and Manu respectively, along with Saurabh’s bronze in the men’s event, ensured that India claimed a medal of each colour during this edition of the World Cup.
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