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Indian shooter Manu Bhaker continued her brilliant form on Friday with yet another medal. She won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed event with Iran’s Javad Foroughi at the ISSF President’s Cup in Wroclaw, Poland. The pair defeated Russia’s Artem Chernousov and France’s Mathilde Lamolle 16-8 in the gold medal match.
Manu Bhaker and Javad Foroughi advanced to the final after finishing at the top of the scoreboard in the first semi-final with a told of 31. They narrowly defeated Serbia’s Damir Mikec and Greece’s Anna Korakaki, who eventually won bronze.
This is Manu Bhaker’s second successive time to win the gold medal at this competition. She had won the title in the last edition too (2019), with Russia’s Chernousov. The tournament was called the World Cup Final then.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Verma and his Ukrainian partner Olena Kostevych shot a total of 19 and finished third in the first semi-final. The pair missed out on a bronze medal.
Saurabh Chaudhary and his Swiss partner Heidi Diethel Gerber finished fourth in the second semi-final with a total of 10.
The Indian troika of Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma and Saurabh Chaudhary advanced to the semi-finals after finishing third, fifth and eighth respectively in the qualification round.
As per the qualification results, the top eight teams compete in the semis and the winners took part in the gold medal matches. The second placed teams squared off in the bronze medal match.
Manu Bhaker in sterling form
Manu Bhaker has been in sterling form since the Tokyo Olympics disappointment. She won four golds and one bronze at the Junior World Championship in October in Lima, Peru
Even at the President’s Cup, she topped the qualification round of the women’s 10m air pistol event to advance to the semis. Manu Bhaker shot a score of 585. Yashaswini Singh Deswal failed to advance after shooting a total of 567 to finish 10th.
This is the inaugural season of the President’s Cup. It is a rechristened version of the ISSF World Cup Finals and is an invitation-only event that features the top-12 shooters in pistol, rifle and shotgun categories.
According to the new rules, pairings are drawn at random in the 10m air pistol and 10m air rifle mixed team events.
