ISSF World Cup 2021: Manu, Saurabh, Divyansh, Elavenil win gold in mixed events

Indian shooters had a fairly successful Day 4 at the ISSF World Cup 2021 with two gold medals and one bronze. While the pair of Divyansh Singh and Elavenil Valarivan captured the 10m air rifle mixed gold, Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker emerged victorious in the corresponding pistol event.

With this, the competition comes to an end in the 10m air rifle and pistol categories at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, New Delhi.

At the end of Day 4, India is leading the ISSF World Cup medal tally with 12 medals (gold-5, silver-3, bronze-4).

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Saurabh and Manu dominate the mixed event again at the ISSF World Cup 2021

India's Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary, Yashaswini Deswal, and Abhishek Verma have so far grabbed most of the pistol medals at the New Delhi ISSF World Cup.

Manu Bhaker

The trend continued as India clinched gold and bronze medals at the 10m air pistol mixed event as well.

Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary once again finished on the top podium after having bagged all the air pistol mixed event titles at the various 2019 ISSF World Cups.

More GOLD for India!!! @SChaudhary2002 & @realmanubhaker win the 10M Air Pistol Mixed Team event at the @ISSF_Shooting World Cup #NewDelhi 2021 beating Iran 16-12 in the final. Many Congratulations! #ISSFWorldCup #ShootingWorldCup #India

— NRAI (@OfficialNRAI) March 22, 2021

The young Indian duo went up against Iran's Golnoush Sebghatollahi and Javad Foroughi in the showdown for the gold. The Indian shooters had a rough start, but they managed to make a strong comeback after that.

Foroughi had earlier defeated Saurabh Chaudhary to take the gold in the 10m air pistol individual event. However, the veteran Iranian shooter was overwhelmed by the youngster in the mixed event.

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Verma and Deswal pocket the mixed air pistol bronze medal at ISSF World Cup 2021

Another duo from India, Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Abhishek Verma, defeated Turkey's Sevval Ilayda Tarhan and Ismail Keles to finish in 3rd position at the 10m air pistol mixed event. The Indian pistol team got off to a strong start with an 8:0 lead, but due to a malfunction in Yashaswini's pistol, the Turkish team got an opportunity to cover up.

Having won the individual gold, the confident Yashaswini was able to make a comeback in the final rounds. Abhishek Verma and Yashaswini ultimately defeated their opponents by a 17:13 margin at the ISSF World Cup 2021.

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Divyansh and Elavenil win gold in 10m air rifle mixed event

Meanwhile, in the 10m air rifle mixed event, India's duo of Divyansh Singh Panwar and Elavenil Valarivan beat Hungary's Istvan Peni and Eszter Denes to take the gold.

GOLD 🥇 for #India to begin the day as Elavenil Valarivan & Divyansh Panwar beat the Hungarian pair of Denes Easter & Istvan Peni 16-10 in the final of the 10M Air Rifle Mixed Team event @issf_shooting World Cup #NewDelhi 2021. Many Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/vMHPlC5ZzK

— NRAI (@OfficialNRAI) March 22, 2021

It is interesting to note that even though Valarivan could not qualify for the final in the 10m air rifle women's individual event, she retained her No. 1 world ranking by winning the gold medal in the mixed event.

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Three Indian shooters hold the top spot in 10m

The Indian shooters have made their mark in 10m air pistol and rifle events this year. Three Indian shooters are now in top position on completion of the 10m events at the ISSF World Cup 2021.

Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Abhishek Verma climbed to the World No. 1 position in the 10m air pistol women's and men's categories respectively. As mentioned earlier, Elavenil retained her No. 1 rank in the women's 10m rifle section.

India is also dominating the second position in 3 categories. Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary are in second position in the 10m air pistol women's and men's categories respectively. Meanwhile, Hungary's Istvan Peni usurped Divyansh Singh Panwar from the top spot in the men's rifle section.

The 50m and 25m events will start on Day 5 of the ISSF World Cup 2021. India will have its last shot at qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in the 25m event.