Paris Olympian Arjuna Babuta clinched the silver medal, narrowly missing out on gold, in the men’s 10m air rifle event at the ISSF World Cup.
In a nail-biting final, Babuta (252.3), who had finished fourth at the Paris Games last year, lost by just 0.1 points to reigning Olympic champion Sheng Lihao of China (252.4).
Seasoned Hungary shooter Istvan Peni, with over 40 ISSF medals to his name, bagged the bronze in what was a world-class field with a total of 229.8.
The final featured a star-studded lineup, including reigning world champion and Paris silver medallist Victor Lindgren of Sweden, Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway and India’s former world champion Rudrankksh Patil.
India had a chance for a double podium finish, but Rudrankksh was unfortunately docked his 11th shot by the jury due to a technical infraction. As a result, Indian finished eighth, bowing out at the first elimination stage.
In the final, both Babuta and Patil started strong with identical 10.1s and stayed close to the lead pack early on. Babuta raised his game after the 10th shot, climbing to third and breathing down the necks of Hegg and Peni as Rudrankksh took the challenge to Sheng.
Patil had won gold at the World Cup in Buenos Aires last week.
After Patil’s shock exit, Babuta stayed composed and took the lead for the first time after the 14th shot.
Sheng closed the distance when Hegg faltered with a series of high 10s, including an almost flawless 10.9 on his 16th attempt.
Babuta had a narrow 0.3-point lead with two of the final 24 shots remaining. However, Sheng hit another 10.9 to reverse the gap, displaying the calmness of his champion.
Sheng secured it with a 10.3, and Babuta’s final 10.5 was not enough to regain the lead.
Sheng easily won the first relay with 635.0, although Babuta shot a strong 631.9 earlier in qualification.
