Indian men falter in 10m air pistol, women stay in 25m medal hunt

Indian shooters endured a disappointing outing in the men’s 10m air pistol event at the ISSF Pistol/Rifle World Cup on Wednesday, failing to qualify for the finals, just a day after claiming mixed team gold with a world-record performance .

Mukesh Nelavalli , who had set the world record en route to the mixed team gold on Tuesday, finished 14th with an aggregate of 579, missing out on the eight-shooter final. While he posted strong scores of 98, 98, 97, and 97 in four of his six series, two subpar rounds of 94 and 95 in the opening and closing series proved costly. Even world No. 1 Hu Kai of China struggled, finishing 15th with 578, while Paris Olympics gold medallist Yu Xie excelled, topping the qualifiers with 588 (98, 99, 97, 98, 99, 97) to advance to the finals in first place.

Ujjawal Malik , who had won the 10m air pistol mixed team gold at the 2024 Cairo World Cup, ended 22nd with 577 (95, 96, 96, 97, 95, 98). Meanwhile, Pramod , competing internationally as a senior for the first time, shot 574 to finish 39th among 86 participants.

In contrast, the women’s 25m pistol event offered brighter prospects for India. Rhythm Sangwan , Olympian and experienced shooter, scored 292 (99, 96, 97) in the precision round to be placed sixth, while Divya T impressed with 291 (96, 98, 97) to secure eighth place. The third Indian, Simranpreet Kaur Brar , shot 282 (93, 94, 95) to be 45th. Paris Olympics silver medallist Camille Jedrzejewski of France led the field after the opening day with a score of 294.

The second stage of the competition, the rapid round , will be held on Thursday, with the top-eight shooters advancing to the medal round. While the men aim to bounce back, the Indian women remain in contention, hoping to convert their strong start into medal-winning performances .