ISSF World Cup 2021: India's Sanjeev Rajput-Tejaswini Sawant pair bags 50m Rifle 3 Positions Mixed Team gold

The Indian shooters capped another good day at the office as Sanjeev Rajput and Tejaswini Sawant combined to clinch the 50m rifle 3 positions mixed team gold at the ISSF World Cup 2021 on Friday. The other Indian pair of Aishwary Pratap Tomar and Sunidhi Chauhan settled for a bronze medal in the same event.

Rajput and Tejaswini were initially on the backfoot in the final, trailing Ukrainians Serhiy Kulish and Anna Ilina 1-3. Touted as the favorites to grab the yellow metal, the Indian pair bounced back with a strong showing to take a 5-3 lead.

Even though the Ukrainian duo briefly regained the lead, Rajput and Tejaswini were quick to draw level. The Indians held onto the momentum, keeping a two-point lead thereafter to win the gold medal 31-29.

This was the 11th gold medal for the Indian contingent at the ISSF World Cup 2021.

Couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day. Won the gold 🏅 medal in the 50m 3P Mixed Team event with Tejaswini Sawant.Perfect end to the @ISSF_Shooting World Cup! pic.twitter.com/nf0ojlYi3o

— Sanjeev Rajput OLY (@sanjeevrajput1) March 26, 2021

India's Aishwary Pratap Tomar-Sunidhi Chauhan pair settles for bronze

Meanwhile, Tomar and Chauhan defeated the American pair of Timothy Sherry and Virginia Thrasher 31-25 to settle for bronze.

Earlier, Rajput and Tejaswini scored 588 points to secure top position in the final qualification round, with both registering 294 points.

Kulish and Ilina came second with 583 points, followed by Thrasher and Sherry, who accumulated 581 points. Tomar and Chauhan logged 580 points to enter the bronze medal round.

Vijayveer Sidhu claims silver in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol

In the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event, Vijayveer Sidhu claimed silver after losing to Estonia’s Olesk Peeter. Gurpreet Singh and Anish Bhanwala had also qualified for the event final, but it was Sidhu who stole the show to get a podium finish for India.

#VijayveerSidhu wins a 🥈 in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol at the @ISSF_Shooting World Cup after a tightly contested final. Many Congratulations! 👏👏#Shooting #BestofShooting pic.twitter.com/5kxgVYsDy5

— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) March 26, 2021

After a tense fight, the two shooters were tied at 26 for the top spot at the end of a 40-shot final. But the Estonian prevailed in the shoot-off to go home with the top honors. While Sidhu could manage to hit only once in the shoot-off, Peeter hit four shots to take the gold. Oskar Miliwek finished in third position to take home the bronze.

Earlier, India had a clean sweep in the women’s 25m pistol event. Chinki Yadav won the gold medal ahead of Rahi Sarnobat (silver) and Manu Bhaker (bronze). The trio also joined forces to win gold in the 25m pistol team event.

India's current medal tally stands at 11 gold, 7 silver, and 6 bronze.