At the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) Munich World Cup in May, participants and coaches from around the globe were talking about an “Indian tsunami” sweeping through the ranges in major events this year. The Indian coaches had a smart retort, “It is just a small wave; the tsunami is yet to come.”
Late on Monday, at the end of four ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup stages (New Delhi, Beijing, Munich and Rio de Janeiro), Indian shooters have collected a staggering 22 medals, including 16 golds, finishing the cycle of World Cups as the world’s leading shooting nation for the very first time. Powerhouse China, with 31 medals in total but only six golds, finished second.
To put the unprecedented haul in perspective, Indian pistol and rifle shooters had won only 11 gold medals in the history of ISSF World Cups till 2018.
The performance puts India in strong reckoning for a rich medal haul in the Tokyo Olympics considering the World Cups this year featured the strongest competition — with Olympic quota places up for grabs, the field was packed with world champions and Olympic medallists.
India’s show in Rio was capped by two teenage sensations — Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker, both 17, who defeated the second Indian team of Yashaswini Deswal and Abhishek Verma in a close final for a gold-silver finish in the 10m pistol event. For Bhaker and Chaudhary, it was a clean sweep this season; the pair won gold medals in mixed team air pistol in all the four World Cups, starting with New Delhi in February.
Read more of this in a report by Avishek Roy published in Hindustan Times... (Link given below)
