Star Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Suruchi Inder Singh stormed into the women’s 10m air pistol final at the ISSF World Championships here on Thursday, while also combining with Sainyam to clinch the team silver medal for the country.
The Championships are the first major event offering quota places for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in individual competitions.
India are yet to win a medal or secure a quota in the Olympic disciplines. Manu and Suruchi will now have an opportunity to change that in the final.
Manu, a double bronze-medallist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, recovered from a slow start to finish third in qualification with a score of 583.
She shot 95 in each of the first two series before finding her rhythm, producing scores of 98, 100, 96 and 99 to make the eight-shooter final.
Suruchi, who won the 10m air pistol mixed team gold at the Asian Games in Japan recently, also made the cut, finishing eighth with 580.
The multiple-time World Cup gold-medallist maintained a steady scoring pattern, firing 97, 95, 96, 97, 97 and 98.
China’s Jiang Ranxin topped the qualification with 585, while the third Indian in the field, Sainyam, finished 22nd with 575 (95, 94, 96, 96, 95, 99).
However, Sainyam’s score proved valuable in the team event as India’s combined tally of 1738 earned them the silver medal. China took the gold with 1745.
The individual final later in the day promises a keen contest, with Manu and Suruchi up against China’s Jiang and Yao Qianxun and Hong Kong China’s Shingo Ho Ching, among others, for the medals and Olympic quota places.
A shooter each from Singapore, Hungary and Iran complete the eight-member final field.
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