Suma finishes fifth in 10M air rifle

Suma, who is a joint world record holder in the event, shot a superb 398 in the qualifying round, before a 101.7 in the final pushed her back as she totalled 499.7.Another Indian, Lajja Gauswami was ninth after firing 397 in qualifying while Priya Aggarwal ended 15th with 396.

Sonja Pfeilschifter of Germany won the gold with a total of 502.0 (399 in qualifying and 103.0 in the final).

Petra Zublasing of Italy was second with 501.5 (398, 103.5) while Xie Jieqiong of China claimed the third spot with 501.4 (398, 103.4).

In the men’s 10M air rifle, Sanjeev Rajput finished 13th while compatriots Imran Khan and PT Raghunath were placed 15th and 16th.

Rajput, who shot a score of 595, was tied ninth along with five shooters after the qualifying round but a disappointing shoot-off pushed him to 13th. Both Khan and Raghunath managed to score of 594.

China’s Zhu Qinan won the gold with a toal of 699.1 (596, 103.1). Artur Aivazian of Ukraine took the silver medal with a total score of 698.8 points followed by Henri Hakkinen of Finland on 697.6 points.

The Milan World Cup is the fourth leg of the year for the ten Olympic shooting events of rifle and pistol.