NEW DELHI: Sheeraz Sheikh was the best-placed Indian with a score of 48 out of 50 in the men’s skeet event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shotgun World Cup in Acapulco, Mexico.
In the women’s event, American legend Kimberly Rhode nailed her sixth ISSF World Cup stage gold over the last two years on Sunday.
Sheeraz was placed 22nd in the pecking order on count-back with 14 others in a field of 95, shooting the same score. Four, including world champion Vincent Hancock of the USA, shot a perfect 50 while 12 others missed one bird each.
Two other Indians in the field Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Angad Vir Singh Bajwa shot 44 and 43 to be placed 74th and 86th respectively, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) stated in a press release.
Among the women, Rashmmi Rathore shot 112 in qualification to end in 23rd place. Maheshwari Chauhan shot 109 to finish 33rd while Simranpreet Kaur shot 97 to be 48th.
In the final, Kimberly shot 57 to leave New Zealand’s Chloe Tipple way behind in silver medal position with a score of 48. Donglian Zhang of China won bronze with a score of 42.
Chloe and Zhang also picked up the two available Tokyo 2020 Olympic quota places on offer in the event. Kimberly had already booked hers earlier.
The American legend has won a total of 54 international medals, including 30 gold in a remarkable career spanning over three decades.
She has won everything there is to win in her sport, including the Olympics (thrice) and the World Championships, and has been unstoppable in recent times. She will be appearing for a record seventh Olympics next year. PTI