India drew blank on the final day but still topped the chart for the second consecutive ISSF World Cup, third time in two years, by bagging three gold and a silver at the Beijing edition of the rifle/pistol event. The hosts China (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) won five medals in total. In the last edition in New Delhi, India had jointly topped the standings with Hungary.
For India, while Anjum Moudgil and young Divyansh Singh Panwar started the medal hunt with a gold in the 10m air rifle mixed team competition, the teenaged pair of Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary backed them up with another gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team pistol event. Divyansh then won India's first individual medal by clinching a silver in the men's 10m air rifle.
Abhishek Verma won India's third gold in men's 10m air pistol event.
The concluding day, however, belonged to two women legends of the sport, two-time former Olympic champion Maria Grozdeva of Bulgaria and Croatian rifle legend Snjezana Pejcic, who won the two scheduled finals of the day, the 25m pistol and the 50m rifle 3 positions (3P).
Indian interest in the event was limited to the qualifying stage of the competition where Manu Bhaker's finals hopes were dashed when she shot 586 in qualifying to finish 17th. Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat managed 579 for a 26th place finish while Chinki Yadav, the third Indian in the competition, shot 570 to end in 56th position.
In the women's 3P, Beijing Olympics bronze medalist and winner of 17 World Cup medals including eight golds, Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia triumphed with a final round score of 464. Among the three Indians in the fray, N Gaayathri finished 19th with a score of 1,169 in qualification while Sunidhi Chauhan shot 1,160 to end in 42nd. Kajal Saini was placed 60th with a qualification round score of 1,142.
