CHENNAI: India pistol shooter Rhythm Sangwan narrowly missed out on a medal after a disastrous series in the crucial stage of women's 25m pistol final in the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Cairo, Egypt.
After 35 shots, Rhythm occupied the final spot in the podium and even had a chance of finishing on top. However, what followed was a car crash. In a high-pressure Stage 2 of elimination, Rhythm fluffed her lines or it could have been some sort of pistol malfunction (common at the elite level) as she just had one hit in the following five shots. Her dreams of winning a medal was all over as she was the shooter with the least score after 40 shots.
Having put up an impressive showing in the qualification stage — she had made the final cut with a top score of 587, that moment was a big letdown for the 22-year-old from Meerut.
Rhythm's loss was Miroslava Mincheva's gain as the Bulgarian shooter finished with a bronze medal. Teh Xiu Yi of Singapore and Heloise Fourre of France won gold and silver, respectively.
Divya TS and Chinki Yadav, the other Indians in the competition, had failed to get past the qualifying hurdle. While Divya just missed out after finishing 10th, Chinki had finished 16th.
In the men's 10m air rifle, none of the Indians managed to make the finals cut.
Arjun Babuta was the best Indian as he finished 16th. Dhanush Srikanth and Paarth Makhija, the other Indians in the fray, finished 21st and 22nd, respectively.