Samrat falls short; Divya in strong contention for ISSF WC final berth

Samrat Rana came agonisingly close to a finals appearance in the men’s 10m Air Pistol (APM) on Day 2 of the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center, China, missing out on qualification only on the count of inner 10s.

Meanwhile, Divya TS produced a composed effort in the women’s 25m Pistol (SPW) Precision Stage, staying well within the top eight and in contention for a finals berth with the Rapid-Fire stage to follow on Thursday.

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In the APM qualification, Rana shot a total of 582-20x with series scores of 96, 98, 92, 95, 99, and 97 to finish 10th overall. He narrowly missed the final, as his tally of inner 10s was five short of Iran’s Vahid Golkhandan, who claimed the eighth finals spot with 582-25x.

Among the other Indians, Amit Sharma finished 28th with 576-18x (97, 96, 97, 93, 98, 95), while Nishant Rawat ended 42nd with 568-11x (97, 97, 95, 91, 92, 96).

In the final, reigning Asian Champion Kai Hu of China clinched the gold, maintaining his sensational run of form in 2025.

He shot 242.3 to secure his fifth senior gold of the year, having already claimed all previous World Cup golds as well as the Asian Championship title. His compatriot Changjie You won silver with 241.5, while Switzerland’s Jason Solari took bronze with 220.4.

In the SPW (Precision Stage) qualification, Divya impressed with a score of 291-14x (97, 94, 100), standing seventh at the halfway mark. She is well placed to push for a finals berth with the Rapid-Fire Stage scheduled for tomorrow.

Ahead of her is Korea’s Yejin Oh with 291-15x, while China’s Qianxun Yao leads the standings with 298-11x. Among the other Indians, Abhidnya Ashok Patil scored 288-7x (96, 96, 96) to place 19th, while Olympian Rahi Sarnobat is 26th with 286-8x (95, 93, 98).

Divya and her fellow competitors will return to action in the Rapid-Fire Stage on Thursday, with the top eight overall qualifiers advancing to the final later in the day.

Day 3 will also see India’s Umamahesh Maddenini, Divyansh Singh Panwar, and Niraj Kumar competing in the men’s 10m Air Rifle (ARM), starting with the qualification stage before the final.

The ARM field promises world-class competition, featuring reigning Olympic Champion Sheng Lihao of China, Sweden’s Paris Olympic silver medallist Victor Lindgren, World No. 2 Istvan Peni of Hungary, World No. 3 Ilia Marsov (Neutral), and Norway’s World No. 4 Jon-Hermann Hegg, who won the mixed team gold on Tuesday. Also in contention are China’s Lu Dingke and Korea’s Hajun Park, the Asian Championship silver and bronze medallists.