Asian Games medallist Abhishek Verma won the Gold while teen sensation Saurabh Chaudhary claimed the Bronze as Indian shooters dominated the podium in the men’s 10m air pistol event of the ongoing ISSF World Cup here.
Verma, a part-time lawyer, shot 244.2 in the eight-man final on Thursday, while the 17-year-old Chaudhary’s 221.9 was good enough to get him the Bronze after five Gold medals this year.
The Silver medal went to Turkey’s Ismail Keles, who aggregated 243.1 in the season’s fourth ISSF World Cup for rifle and pistol shooters.
India are now placed at the top of the medals tally with two Gold, one Silver and a Bronze.
India have already exhausted the maximum Olympic quotas available per country in this event, with both Verma and Chaudhary securing the sports in the previous qualifying events.
In the qualification round on Thursday, Chaudhary was fourth with 584 points and Verma entered the finals in fifth position with 582 points, while Gaurav Rana was 44th with 571.
Verma, who won Bronze in the Jakarta Asiad last year, and Chaudhary ended the second day of competitions on a high note for India.
For a change, Chaudhary had to settle for a Bronze this time — his sixth ISSF World Cup medal of the year. He had earlier won a phenomenal five Golds.
Earlier in the day, Chinki Yadav came close to making it to the finals, finishing just a point behind the final qualifying mark in the women’s 25m Pistol event.
She shot a 294 in the Rapid Fire round, ending up with a solid 584 to claim 10th spot.
Switzerland’s Heidi Gerber, who bagged the eighth and final qualifying spot, shot 585 even as Hungary’s Veronika Major claimed her third ISSF World Cup Gold of the year in the event.
Annu Raj Singh, making a comeback to the Indian team, shot 579 to end in 25th spot while Abhidnya Ashok Patil shot 572 to finish 53rd.