Samrat rules as Esha, Manu miss out on medal

cairo: Young Indian shooter Samrat Rana came up with breathtaking show of marksmanship to clinch the men’s 10m air pistol gold at the prestigious ISSF World Championships, here on Monday.

Samrat, who hails from Karnal, shot 243.7 in the final to beat back the challenge of China’s Hu Kai, who took the silver in a nerve-wracking medal round with a score of 243.3.

India’s Varun Tomar, who hails from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, shot 221.7 to take the bronze in a high-intensity final, which saw lead changing hands between the three shooters multiple times.

However, Manu Bhaker and multiple Asian Games medal winner Esha Singh suffered a meltdown in the women’s 10m air pistol final as the country’s top-two shooters could not win a medal.

Manu, winner of the 10m air pistol individual and mixed team bronze at the Paris Olympics, had things going her way in the final before a poor 8.8 on the 14th shot saw her take a mighty tumble from the top spot to seventh as she finished with a score of 139.5.

Esha, who recently won the World Cup gold, too could not turn her dream runs into a medal as inconsistencies and nerves got the better of her on the big stage as the 20-year-old faltered with an 8.4 on the 14th shot after a superb 10.7 to finish sixth.