New Delhi: Indian shooter Samrat Rana produced a stunning performance to win the men’s 10m air pistol gold medal at the ISSF World Championships in Cairo, becoming the first Indian pistol shooter to claim a world title in an Olympic discipline. The 20-year-old from Karnal delivered a composed and decisive final, scoring 243.7 to edge past China’s Hu Kai by a narrow 0.4 margin. India’s Varun Tomar added to the historic outing by taking bronze with 221.7, marking the first time two Indians have medalled in the same event at the World Championships.
Samrat’s victory also secured India the team gold, with his 586 in qualification leading the country to a combined total of 1754 alongside Varun (586) and Shravan Kumar (582). Italy and Germany finished a distant second and third. The strong results pushed India up to third in the overall medal tally.
Samrat built on his junior-level success at the same venue, where he won two golds in 2022. Guided by his father since 2018, he had been closing in on senior glory after winning the World University title last year and narrowly missing a World Cup final berth in China. His qualification score matched Varun’s, with Samrat edging ahead due to one extra inner 10.
The final featured a tense three-way contest between Samrat, Varun and Hu Kai, with the lead shifting repeatedly until the decisive last shot. Shravan Kumar finished 12th after missing out on the medal round.
In contrast, India’s top women shooters endured a disappointing outing. Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh both entered the 10m air pistol final with strong qualification scores but faltered in the medal round. Manu fell from contention after an 8.8 on her 14th shot, finishing seventh with 139.5. Esha, who had shot a perfect 100 in qualification, slipped to sixth after an 8.4 at a crucial moment. India settled for team silver in the women’s event, with Esha (583), Manu (580) and world No. 1 Suruchi Inder Singh (577) combining for 1740. Suruchi placed 14th individually in a highly competitive field.
The day ended with a landmark triumph for Samrat and the men’s team, reinforcing India’s rising strength in pistol shooting on the world stage.
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