New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) Shapath Bharadwaj hit two perfect series and followed it up with 21 shots in the third series to end the first day of the men’s trap event with a total of 71 hits from 75 in the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun at the Asanov Shooting Club in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Manisha Keer, with a score of 69, was the best Indian woman at the end of Day 1.
Shapath started the day with two perfect rounds but only managed 21 in the third series, dropping him down the standings. Vivaan Kapoor also shot a perfect 25 in his second series, after starting with 22 hits and finishing the day with 23 shots in the third series. The third Indian in the competition, Ahvar Rizvi, shot 23, 22, and 23 to finish day one on a score of 68.
Udaivir Singh Jaijee and Ali Aman Elahi, competing for ranking points, scored 71 and 66, respectively.
In the women’s event, Manisha Keer also started the day with two consecutive series of 24 each before finishing the day with a total score of 69 after hitting 21 targets in the third series. She is currently in 17th position. National Champion Neeru Dhanda hit 23, 23, and 22 to finish the day in 21st place with a score of 68. Pragati Dubey, the third Indian, shot 65 (18, 23, 24) to be placed in 35th place.
Competing for ranking points, Varsha Varman (20, 20, 21) shot a score of 61 while Vidhi Singh (18, 21, 23) hit 62 targets. The final 50 targets and the finals of both men’s and women’s events will be held on Saturday.
Earlier, Indian skeet shooters missed out on a spot in the finals in both the men’s and women’s events in the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun at the Asanov Shooting Club in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Olympians Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Raiza Dhillon finished highest among the Indian athletes.
Mairaj, who started day two in 26th place after shooting 71 out of 75 yesterday, shot 23 and 25 in the final two series to end the qualification stage in 18th place with a total of 119. Bhavtegh Singh Gill, who was competing for ranking points, was the next best performer, also with a final score of 119 (24,24,23,24,24) to finish one place below Mairaj in 19th.
Olympian Anantjeet Singh Naruka started the fourth series with a perfect 25 and followed it up with a series of 23 to finish his first World Cup of the season in 38th place with a final score of 117.
–IANS
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