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Tondaiman Prithviraj became the only Indian to win a medal in this year's Lonato ISSF Shotgun World Cup on Sunday. The Indian shooter had to fight hard to clinch the bronze medal in Italy. The World Cup, which was a qualifying event for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, witnessed a disappointing show from the Indians.
The 36-year-old had a difficult final where he faced three elimination stages but managed to survive them all to finish third. Initially, it was during the 25-shots where he managed 21, one above Aaron Heading, who got eliminated with 20 hits. In 30 targets, he had 25 hits and finished above Tolga Turcer. The Turkey shooter was eliminated after he managed only 24 hits.
The final moments of 35 targets were a nail-biter. Tondaiman managed 30 hits. Czech Republic's Pavel Vanek began well but missed the last two shots to tie with the Indian shooter. Tondaiman had a podium finish because of the superior bib number. This is the India shooter's second bronze medal in two World Cups this year.
Earlier, in the qualification round, he entered the six-man final after ending with a score of 122. Hales and Qi had scores of 123, but Qi went down in the shoot-off by 3-2 to Hales in the contest to determine the bib number. Tondaiman had a four-way shoot-off to determine his place as well. The Indian shooter made five straight hits to finish third in the qualification round.
India finishes 9th in Italy after Tondaiman's bronze
India ended the ISSF World Cup in Italy with a single bronze medal, finishing ninth in the medals tally. The shooters had a forgetting World Cup this time and will be looking to make a comeback in the World Championships which will take place in August at Baku. Notably, the Championships offers as many as 48 Olympics 2024 Paris quota.
Bhowneesh Mendiratta, who has already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics in the Trap Event, could not make an impact in Italy. Another experienced shooter in the competition was Mairaj Ahmad Khan. The Olympian also produced a forgettable performance in Italy.
