Pardini Rapid Fire Cup: Pistol shooter Anish Bhanwala secures gold ahead of Paris 2024 Olympics

Paris Olympics-bound pistol shooter Anish Bhanwala had an exceptional performance in his final outing ahead of the mega event in Paris, striking gold in the 25m rapid fire pistol event at the Pardini Rapid Fire Cup Competition 1 on Tuesday, July 9, in Suhl, Germany.

In the qualification round, Anish displayed sheer brilliance, achieving a remarkable score of 588 with 25 X-shots, clinching the second position. The top six shooters from the qualification round advanced to the final.

Another Indian in action Vijayveer Sindhu, who will also represent India at Paris 2024, could score only 578 with 18 X-shots. Though he couldn’t make an impact in Competition 1, he will get a chance to prove his worth in the second competition.

Though Vijayveer started off well with scores of 97 and 98 in the first two rounds, he had a poor outing in the third, managing only 91. However, he finished off with scores of 99, 97 and 96. Nevertheless, the damage was done in the third round as he failed to move to the final.

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Anish Bhanwala displayed dominance in the final

Moving to the final, Anish Bhanwala continued his exceptional performance, scoring 35 out of 40 shots to secure the gold medal. Importantly, the tournament featured multiple world-class shooters.

World Championships medalists Florian Peter from Germany and Clément Bessaguet from France settled for the silver and bronze medals with scores of 32 and 28, respectively.

Notably, in October 2023, Anish Bhanwala secured the bronze medal in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championships in Changwon, the Republic of Korea, to secure the Paris Olympics 2024 quota.

Anish, the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion, scored 28 out of 35 shots in the final. However, he suffered a loss in the shoot-off to Japan’s Dai Yoshioka. The Asian Shooting Championships 2023 was a qualifying event for the Paris Olympics 2024.

Later, in the Olympic Selection Trials held in New Delhi and Bhopal, Anish Bhanwala had exceptional outings to secure his spot alongside Vijayveer Sidhu in the 25m rapid-fire pistol for the forthcoming Paris Olympics 2024, scheduled to start on August 26.

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