Udhayveer clinches double; Esha triumphs

CAIRO: India picked up three more gold medals to go with two bronze, including a double gold from Udhayveer Sidhu, to consolidate its second position at the ISSF World Championship here on Saturday.

Udhayveer won the junior men’s 25m and standard pistol titles while Esha Singh clinched the junior women’s 25m pistol crown as India ended the day with four gold and three bronze medals to lie behind China, which has eight gold and a total of 16 medals.

Udhayveer shot a combined score of 580 after the precision and rapid fire rounds in junior men’s sports pistol, emerging on top of the 23-strong field. Italian Matteo Mastrovalerio was a point behind in second while China’s Liu Yangpan won bronze with 577.

In standard pistol, Udhayveer shot 568 across three stages to leave behind Yangpan, who had to settle for silver with 567. India’s Sameer also shot 567, but completed the podium with a bronze medal based on countback.

After finishing her qualification round in fourth place with a score of 581, Esha came second in her ranking match to make it to the medal round. She got 29 hits in the medal match to overcome China’s Feng Sixuan, who finished with 25.

India’s second bronze of the day came from Tejaswini in junior women’s 25m standard pistol after she shot 557 to finish behind two Chinese shooters.