India keeps stunning at the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara (MEX), as 16-year-old Pistol shooter Manu Bhaker pocketed her country’s second gold medal in two days and prevailed over hometown favorite Alejandra Zavala Vazquez of Mexico in the women’s 10m Air Pistol final.
Making her absolute debut in an ISSF competition, Bhaker confronted herself with a pack of experienced and multi-decorated shooters, eventually taking gold with an incredible comeback in her final two shots.
Despite sitting on a 1.9-point advantage, in fact, Vazquez fired twice inside the 8th ring, while Bhaker first reduced the gap with an 8.5, and then secured the brightest medal with a fantastic 10.6.
Thanks to Bhaker’s gold, India's medal tally now counts two golds — both won in the Air Pistol individual events — and three bronzes.
The third step of the podium was taken by France’s 31-athlete Celine Goberville, winner of the ISSF crystal globe at last year’s World Cup Final in New Delhi (IND). The French 31-year-old shooter finished with 217.0 points, claiming her fourth World Cup medal in the Air Pistol event.
Despite finishing just outside of the medal position, Bhaker’s teammate Yashaswini Singh Deswal (20) signed the best World Cup placement of her career, scoring 196.1 points and finishing 4th in her first final appearance.
Deswal was followed by Anna Korakaki of Greece — bearer of the highest qualification score, and bronze medalist in this event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games — who scored 177.0 points and concluded in 5th place.
Two German first-time final participants followed the Greek shooter in 6th and 7th place: 33-year-old Sandra Reitz — the wife of Germany’s multi-decorated Pistol shooter Christian Reitz — took 6th position with 155.8 points, while 30-year-old Julia Hochmuth placed 7th with 129.2.
Switzerland’s experienced shooter Heidi Diethelm Gerber placed at the bottom of the table, taking 8th place with 110.4 points.
Medal standings after 4 out of 15 events
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IND |
2 | 3 | 5 | |
| 2 | HUN |
1 | 1 | ||
| 2 | ROU |
1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | AUT |
1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | CHN |
1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | GER |
1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | MEX |
1 | 1 | ||
| 8 | FRA |
1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
The ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara (MEX) will continue tomorrow with three more finals: the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team, scheduled at 11:30 am (UTC+6:00), the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team, scheduled at 1:15 pm, and the Trap Women final, taking place at 4:30 pm.
The Trap Women final will be streamed live on the ISSF website, on the Federation’s Livestream channel, on its official Facebook page and on the Olympic Channel.
Live results of the competition, news and updates will be available on www.issf-sports.org and on all ISSF social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.