Anish Bhanwala scripted history on Friday after winning bronze in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol (RFP), a first ever medal for the country in the event at the prestigious season-ending International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final (WCF) at the Lusail Shooting range.
It capped a momentous year for the 21-year-old, where he broke through with a first ever senior individual ISSF World Cup stage medal and a first senior Asian Championships medal and a Paris Olympic quota place to boot.
Anish shot 27 in the final on Friday evening, finishing behind world championship bronze medallist German Peter Florian who took gold with 35-hits, and reigning world champion and double Olympic medallist Li Yuehong of China, who was second with 33-hits after eight series of five rapid-fire shots.
Anish, who was India’s final start at the Doha WCF, would have liked an easier passage to the top six than what a return of 92 in the final five rapid-fire series of shots allowed him on Friday afternoon. His qualification score of 581, just enough to pip German ace Christian Reitz to seventh.
But with all three Baku World Championship medallists in the final, the Haryana lad had his work cut out.
Florian blasted four perfect fives to start and then had another five in the seventh series, which was enough to give him gold. Yuehong also had four perfect series of five-hits and a couple of fours, which ensured his score of two in the seventh series did not deny him a medal lesser than silver.
Anish on the other hand did well to keep pace with the high level of shooting all around, blasting two fives for his third and fourth series to go with three series of four-hits.
Chinese Jueming Zhang was the first to be eliminated with 12 hits in the first four series. He was followed by Clement Bessaguet who had 18 after five and then Czech Matej Rampula wilted with a no-hit in the sixth series, which ensured Anish’s medal. The Indian was two behind the Chinese World Champion when he bowed out after the seventh series.
Earlier in the day, Akhil Sheoran finished fifth in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) event, making him the fifth Indian finalist at this year’s WCF to finish outside the medals. The seasoned Akhil, who has also had a great year, bolstered by a bronze in the Baku World Championship, which also helped him secure a Paris Olympic quota for the country.
The penultimate Indian start at Doha, Akhil shot scores of 197, 196 and 195 in the kneeling, prone and standing positions respectively to log 588 and qualify for the final in seventh place.
He then soldiered on gamely in a final oozing quality, but a few shots in the 9s at crucial stages put paid to medal hopes.
He was fourth after the first 15 kneeling shots with a total of 154.3 as Norwegian Jon Hermann-Hegg led at that stage. He stayed in the hunt till the 42nd shot of the 45-shot final, to bow out with his score reading 429.8.
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Sift Kaur Samra, had also qualified for the season-ending event in 3P shooting but pulled out ahead of the tournament.
