Peru, April 16
The Jhajjar girls Suruchi and Manu Bhaker, were on the rampage at the Las Palmas shooting range, the former picking up back-to-back World Cup golds stunning the double Olympic medallist pistol shooter Manu, who took the silver.
Taking aim on competition day one of the year’s second International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun stage, Suruchi tallied 243.6 in the 24-shot 10m air pistol women’s final, to leave her senior double Olympic medal-winning compatriot 1.3 behind in the chase. China’s Yao Qianxun took bronze.
Suruchi and Manu’s 1-2 finish in the women’s air pistol meant that India collected one medal of each colour on the day, with Saurabh Chaudhary earlier winning a bronze in the men’s event. That took them on top of the standings for now, with China, which had won the men’s air pistol gold, in second.
Signs were clear in the 60-shot qualification round itself when the Indian duo comfortably qualified from the 28-strong field. Suruchi took second with a regulation 582, while Manu was fourth with a 578. Sainyam, the third Indian in the fray, was 11th with 571.