Meghana’s comeback shines as India finish fifth

After nearly a decade of waiting, India’s Meghana Sajjanar finally broke through on the global stage, clinching her maiden ISSF World Cup medal with a bronze in the women’s 10m air rifle. Her gritty performance capped India’s campaign in Ningbo, where the team finished fifth overall in the season-ending Rifle/Pistol competition.

Making her first World Cup final in eight years, the 33-year-old shooter displayed nerves of steel, tallying 230.0 to take bronze. The event, however, belonged to China’s teenage sensation Peng Xinlu, who electrified the home crowd with a world-record score of 255.3, eclipsing teammate Wang Zifei’s previous benchmark of 254.8. Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad secured silver.

Meghana’s road to the podium was anything but smooth. She started at the bottom of the eight-woman final but clawed back with a rock-solid second series of 52.3. Over the next 10 shots, she never dipped below 10.2, including a crucial 10.9 that steadied her run. Under pressure from neutral athlete Mariia Vasileva, Meghana closed with two clutch 10.4s to seal her first medal at this level.

India’s campaign had already been boosted by Esha Singh, who struck gold in the women’s 10m air pistol a day earlier. In the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions, Kiran Ankush Jadhav qualified strongly in fourth but faltered in the finals, finishing eighth with 406.7 after struggling in kneeling and prone.

Elsewhere, Paris bronze medallist Swapnil Kusale managed 587 for a 21st-place finish, while Babu Singh Panwar posted 583. In women’s air rifle, Olympian Ramita Jindal (629.8) finished 22nd overall, ahead of Kashika Pradhan (626.6).

China topped the medals tally with three golds, Norway followed with two, while India’s final haul stood at one gold and one bronze.