Ace Indian shooter Suruchi Singh Inder continued her momentum from the South American leg of the ISSF World Cup. In an exciting final, the 19-year-old won the 10m Air Pistol gold medal at the ISSF Munich World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) with a score of 241.9. It was India’s first medal of the campaign.
It was a close contest with Camille Jedrzejewski of France, who finished second just 0.2 points behind, at 241.7. Throughout the final, Suruchi and Camille jostled for the top spot. In the penultimate round of the competition stage, the French athlete led with 222.4, while Suruchi trailed closely on 221.9.
Tension was evident on Camille’s face as she appeared nervous, adjusting her stance for the second time with around 10 seconds left to shoot. An 8.9 from her, against Suruchi’s 9.6, allowed the Indian to close the gap.
However, the Frenchwoman still held the lead when China’s Yao Qianxun finished with 221.7 and settled for the bronze medal.
Suruchi struck a solid 10.5 with her first shot of the final round, while Camille registered 9.5, giving Suruchi the lead. Suruchi’s final shot was a 9.5. Camille needed a 10.1 to reclaim the gold but managed only a 9.8, maintaining the slender gap. Despite the win, Suruchi didn’t seem entirely satisfied with her last shot.
She was consistent throughout the final, with her lowest score being a 9.0, hit only once, and a 9.4 otherwise.
It was a tense moment in the range. Paris Olympics double medallist Manu Bhaker was on commentary duty and she described how tensed these moments are for an athlete. Bhaker, however, struggled in the qualification round and finished 25th with 574-14x.
Other Indians in the qualification round included Palak and Simranpreet Kaur Brar, both of whom failed to make the final cut, finishing 36th and 54th respectively.
Suruchi had finished second in the qualification round. Another Indian, Sainyam, also did well, finishing with 580-23x. However, she was competing for Ranking Points Only (RPO).
“It was a very close final. We were head-to-head throughout, but I learnt a lot from the experience and I’m feeling great,” said Suruchi, speaking to ISSF media.
With this medal, India climbs to fourth place in the medal tally, with one gold and two bronze medals.