On the second-to-last day of competition in New Delhi, many countries will have the chance to enrich their medal count: the People’s Republic of China, for example, will surely be among the contenders for the 25m Pistol Women and 50m Pistol Men podiums, while Italy will battle for another medal in the Shotgun discipline, after the three ones collected in the Trap events.
25m Pistol Women
In her first competition as a senior shooter, Germany’s Michelle Skeries will try to enter the final match for the second time, after placing 6th in the 10m Air Pistol Women event three days ago.
As a Junior shooter, Skeries won a Junior World Cup Gold in Suhl (GER) in 2016 and a European Championship Gold in Tallinn (EST), also in 2016.
Olympic Bronze medalist Heidi Diethelm Gerber of Switzerland will also be among the top contenders for a medal. Before placing 3rd at Rio 2016, the 47-year-old won two World Cup medal in this event, where she currently ranks 4th in the world.
Chinese athlete Lin Yuemei will bear the flag of her country once again, after claiming the World Cup Gold medal in the Air Pistol event on Sunday. She’ll be supported by teammates Su Yuling, seeking for the first World Cup medal of her career, and Zhang Jingjing, who instead won 12 World Cup medals in this event.
India will be represented by 15-year-old Muskan Muskan, Surabhi Pathak and Rahi Sarnobat.
50m Pistol Men
After driving the crowd crazy during the men’s 10m Air Pistol final, where he placed 3rd and claimed the Bronze medal, India’s Jitu Rai will battle for what would be his second medal in this competition, leading an Indian team who will also enlist Amanpreet Singh and Gurpal Singh.
Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsuda and Vietnam’s Haong Xuan Vinh, also on the 10m Air Pistol Men podium, where they respectively received the Gold and the Silver medal, will also compete for a spot among finalists.
Rai, Matusuda and Hoang, however, won’t be the only shooters looking for a second medal in New Delhi: among the participants of the 50m Pistol Men event, in fact, there will be Azerbaijani shooter Ruslan Lunev, Bronze medalist in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol four days ago.
The Chinese team will line up World Cup debutants Han Shihang and Wu Jianfeng, and Liu Yi, who only participated once in this event in a World Cup stage, placing 9th in Beijing (CHN) in 2009.
Skeet Women
Two of the three Olympic medalist in Rio de Janeiro will be at the DR. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi, competing for the first Skeet Women podium of the international season.
Italy’s Diana Bacosi, the current Olympic Champion, will lead a trio completed by veteran shooter Katiuscia Spada, a seven-tie World Cup medalist in this event, and by 21-year-old Chiara Di Marizantonio, seeking for her second appearance in a final match.
The United States of America will be represented by the legendary Bronze medalist of Rio 2016, Kimberly Rhode, a six-time Olympic medalist in two different events, and by the Silver medalist at the ISSF World Championship in Lonato (ITA) in 2015: Caitlin Connor.
the third shooter bearing the stars-and-stripes flag will be Haley Dunn, who didn’t compete in the ISSF World Cup in the last two seasons.
The home crowd will keep an eye on the three Indian shooters battling for a spot among the six finalists: Art Singh Rao, a former continental champion in this event, Rashmee Rathore and Saniya Sheikh, both looking for the first World Cup final participation.