Indian shooters fall short at Doha World Cup Final

India's top shooters faced a tough outing at the season-ending ISSF(International Shooting Sport Federation) World Cup Final here on Saturday, with former world champion Rudrankksh Patil, Paris Olympic finalist Arjun Babuta, and Elavenil Valarivan missing out on medals in their respective events.

Rudrankksh, the 2022 world champion, narrowly missed the podium in the men’s 10m air rifle final, finishing fourth with a total of 209.9. He had entered the final after securing fourth place in qualification with a score of 631.9. In the closely contested final, a single below-par shot of 9.8 in the opening series proved costly, allowing Sweden’s Victor Lindgren to claim gold with 253.0, followed by China’s Paris double Olympic gold medallist Sheng Lihao with 252.6 for silver. Lindgren also earned a Euro 5,000 prize cheque, while Lihao received Euro 4,000. Hungary’s Istvan Peni took the bronze.

Babuta, who qualified third with 633.3, finished sixth in the final, unable to match the scores of the medal contenders. Despite strong performances in earlier World Cup events this season, both Indian shooters fell short in the high-pressure final.

On the women’s side, Elavenil Valarivan could not make it to the eight-shooter final in the 10m air rifle event, finishing ninth in qualification with a score of 630. This came after her bronze medal-winning performance at the recent World Championships in Cairo.

In shotgun action, India’s lone entrant, veteran trap shooter Zorawar Sandhu, ended day one in ninth place out of 12 shooters after scoring 70/75 in three rounds (23, 24, 23). He will return on Sunday for the remaining two rounds, with only six shooters set to advance to the final.

The World Cup Final, featuring the best shooters of the season, proved a challenging stage for the Indian contingent, highlighting the fine margins that separate podium finishes from near-misses in elite shooting competitions.