Hriday, Nancy win silver in 10m air rifle at Baku World Cup

Hriday Hazarika and Nancy clinched silver medals in 10m air rifle events at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. Hriday shot an impressive (251.9) in the final but just fell short against Hungary’s Zalan Pekler (252.4). Nancy put up a good fight as well against China’s Han Jiayu but managed 253.3 points to Han’s 254.0 to finish with a silver.

Both athletes won their first individual senior World Cup stage medals in a quality field. It was a high-scoring qualification that saw Pekler (636.2) and Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Sheng Lihao (637.9) of China go past the world record. Sheng broke his existing world record set in Bhopal in March.

Hriday qualified for the final in seventh position with a score of 630.3. He was even better in the 24-shot final, where his lowest score was 10.1 in the very first shot. Pekler, however, led from the start with Hriday chasing him all the way.

The medal has been a long time coming for 2018 junior world champion Hriday from Narayanpur, Assam. Injuries and poor form laid him low but this year, he has finally started to get it together. With a World Cup medal now, Hriday will be keen to book a Paris Olympics slot for India at the world championships this year.

"I think I am more mature now and I am able to handle myself better in pressure situations," said Hriday. "I was not expecting anything from this tournament, just wanted to follow my routine and put up a good score."

Hriday added: "I am a bit disappointed that I missed out on gold. I was hoping that I would be able to catch up to him but one bad shot in the beginning proved crucial. But I am happy that I was able to shoot a high score in a tough final. My next focus will be world championships."

Nancy finished seventh with a score of 631.6 in the qualification. Han Jiayu topped with 634.3 as two other Indians, Ramita (631.4) and Tilottama Sen (629.7), ended in the ninth and 15th positions respectively.

The final had big names like reigning Olympic Champion Nina Christen of Switzerland and seasoned Norwegian Jeannette Hegg Duestad. Nancy pushed Jiayu in the final with consistently high scores but still finished second. It was learning experience that will serve her well in the future.

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