ISSF World Cup Changwon | Mairaj Ahmad Khan bags historic gold in men's skeet, becomes first Indian to do so
A file image of Mairaj Ahmad Khan.
|(Twitter)
India shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan created history on Monday, as he won a gold medal in the men's skeet final at the ISSF World Cup Changwon, and became the first from the country to achieve this feat. He recorded 37 hits from a possible 40 shots to take the title, missing only three shots.
South Korea’s Minsu Kim struck 36 for silver, while Ben Llewellin of Great Britain won bronze with 26 shots on target. In the qualifying, Mairaj shot 119 from 125, and they came through a five-way shoot-off that also included two-time Olympic medallist Abdullah Al Rashidi of Kuwait.
In the ranking round too, the challenge was stiff for the Indian, as he was up against Germany’s Sven Korte, Minki Cho of South Korea, and Nicolas Vasilou of Cyprus. Here also, Mairaj topped the round with 27 shots on target.Â
This was not the only medal coming India's way on the day. The country bagged a bronze in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event. Anjum Moudgil, who won individual silver on Sunday, teamed with Sift Kaur Samra and Ashi Chouksey to win the bronze medal. The Indian team got the better of Austria 16-6 in the bronze medal play-off.
This means that India is still at the top of the medals table, with five gold, five silver, and three bronze medals. In the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event, Vijayveer Sidhu did make it to the ranking round, but could not win a medal.
