Doha (Qatar), March 10 (IANS) It was a good first day of qualification for India’s Shreyasi Singh and Prithviraj Tondaiman as they finished sixth and fourth respectively in the women’s and men’s trap competitions on Day 7 of the ongoing ISSF Shotgun World Cup at the Lusail Shooting Range, here on Friday.
Shreyasi, a former Commonwealth Games champion, got 72 hits out of 75 targets, while the seasoned Prithviraj missed just one target in his three rounds, to raise hopes of qualifying for the ranking round matches.
The top eight from the women’s field of 62, and the men’s field of 118, qualify for the two ranking round matches, from where the top two make it to the final medal round. Both the fields come back on Saturday for two more qualifying rounds of 25-targets each. The ranking and final matches are also scheduled for Saturday.
Shreyasi missed two targets in her first round, before improving to post scores of 24 and a perfect 25, to finish on a strong note. She was tied with four others on 72, including 2012 London Olympics champion Jessica Rossi of Italy and reigning Olympic champion Fatima Galvez of Spain. Australian Penny Smith led the field with 74 hits.
In the men’s trap, Great Britain’s Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Matthew John Coward-Holley led the field with a perfect 75 while Prithviraj with two perfect rounds to end the day with, had the company of the reigning Olympic champion Jiri Liptak of the Czech Republic. Turkey’s Oguzhan Tuzun also shot a perfect 75 over three rounds and was second behind Coward-Holley.
Among the other Indians on show, Preeti Rajak and Rajeshwari Kumari were almost out of the women’s draw, shooting scores of 64 and 62 to lie 48th and 52nd respectively. Kirti Gupta, playing for ranking points shot 66 on the day.
Among the men, 2024 Olympics quota winner Bhowneesh Mendiratta missed a couple of targets but was still in the reckoning with a score of 73. Zoravar Sandhu missed three and was down to 33rd spot. Kynan Chenai, also playing for ranking points only, shot a score of 70.
India are yet to open their medal account in the Doha World Cup with the USA leading the table with two golds and a total of four medals.
–IANS
ak/
