Meghana finishes fourth in 10M air rifle

India’s Meghana Sajjanar and Pooja Ghatkar on Thursday lost out on medals by whisker as they finished fourth and fifth respectively in the women’s 10M air rifle final at the fifth and final stage of the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) series, at Gabala, Aerbaijan.

Meghana missed her first-ever World Cup medal after losing out agonisingly in a shoot-off to finish fourth with a score of 205.7. Compatriot Pooja finished fifth with a score of 183.8 in the final.

The 22-year old Meghana from Bengaluru, competing in only her third World Cup after making her debut in New Delhi earlier in the year, shot an excellent 419.6 to qualify for the final in top spot among the eight women.

Pooja, now a seasoned shooter, made it to her second final of the year, after her bronze medal winning performance at the New Delhi World Cup, which was also her first-ever World Cup medal.

It was a Chinese 1-2 at the top in the women’s 10M air rifle with teenagers Xinyi Peng and Mengyao Shi winning gold and silver respectively while Singapore’s top rifle shooter Jasmine Xer bagging the bronze.
Earlier, India’s challenge in the men’s 10M air rifle event was restricted to the qualifying stages when the trio of Deepak Kumar, Satyendra Singh and Ravi Kumar finished a disappointing 25th, 36th and 41st respectively.

Deepak shot a score of 623.3, Satyendra 620.4 and Ravi 620.0. Ravi had earlier made it to two World Cup Finals in New Delhi and Munich without winning a medal.

In the day’s other event, Jitu Rai, Prakash Nanjappa and Amanpreet Singh sailed through their elimination rounds in the men’s 50M pistol event and will shoot their qualification round on Friday.