Shiva Narwal and Esha Singh are World Champions in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team
Sports Editor, Takmaa News, Kolkata, 18th Aug 2023 : The Indian teenaged pairing of Shiva Narwal and Esha Singh won a first gold and second medal for the country at the on-going International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship All Events in Baku, Azerbaijan, defeating the Turkish pair of Yusuf Dikec and Sevval Tarhan 16-10 in the gold match of the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team competition, here at the Baku Shooting Centre. Earlier, the pair had topped the 65-team qualification stage of the Olympic event to earn the right to fight for gold.
The pair’s effort meant that India were now up to second on the medal tally behind China with one gold and one bronze to their kitty. China was way ahead of the field with five golds and two bronze medals.
Shiva was naturally very happy saying after the match, “I am feeling very good as the experience in Baku has been good with one gold and one bronze medal. After finishing our first qualification relay we were not sure whether we would fight for gold but once we knew that we were in the gold match, we were confident of winning gold. Both of us had practiced together for finals at the Olympic range in Chateauroux, France last month” Speaking about his “home-coach” brother Manish Narwal, himself a Shooter and a Paralympic Games gold medallist he said, “He has been the most supportive. I just spoke to him after the final but could not speak much as the network was not good.”
Putting his performance in the individual Air Pistol event yesterday in perspective Shiva said, “I was very sick during the national camp as well. Maybe that affected the performance a little bit.”
Shiva and Esha shot 583 after 30-shots each in the first qualification relay. It was enough to be the best in both the relays combined as the experienced 50-year-old Dikec and Tarhan of Turkey came second with 581. China won bronze defeating Iran in the bronze medal match after both teams had finished third and fourth in qualification.
In the final, the Indians began better than the Turks winning both the first two single-shot series and taking a 4-0 lead in the first-to-16 race. In the third series, all four shooters shot in the 9s as the Turkish pair logged their first two points. A solid 10.6 in the fourth by Dikec saw them draw level at 4-4. It was Sevval’s turn to shoot a 10.7 in the fifth as Turkey took the lead at 6-4.
The Indians started the turnaround from then on. Two solid 10s by the Indian teenagers in the sixth and seventh series and two shots in the 9s by the Turks in the eighth, saw Esha and Shiva wrest the lead back at 10-6. Then the Turks shot two shots in the 8-ring and two in the 9s as the Indians opened up a six-point gap at 14-8.
The Turks kept fighting to win the 12th series but in the final 13th series, Esha shot the highest 10.6 with Tarhan shooting the lowest 9.3, as India wrapped the match and the title.
Day’s other results
In the day’s other results, the pair of Mehuli Ghosh and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team competition ended ninth overall with a combined effort of 630.2 in qualification. Divyansh Panwar and Ramita finished 17th with 628.3.
In the Women’s Skeet the Indian team comprising Ganemat Sekhon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Darshna Rathore missed out on a bronze, finishing fourth with a combined tally of 351 points. Parinaaz was the best Indian finisher in the individual competition with a qualification score of 118 giving her 19th spot, while Ganemat with the same score finished in the 21st spot overall. Darshna shot 115 to finish 38th in the 71-strong field.
In the Men’s Skeet whose final qualification round and finals are slated for Saturday, Angad Bajwa shot two perfect rounds of 25 to climb up to 25th position with a score of 97. Anant Jeet Singh Naruka was 41st with 96 and Gurjoat Khangura was lying in 78th position with a score of 93.
