SHOOTING
Shooting World Cup Finals to take place at Delhi in October
All the Olympic medallists in shooting in the Paris Games are expected to line up for action in the season-ending World Cup Finals to be staged at the Dr. Karni Singh Range in Delhi from October 13 to 18.
The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) president Luciano Rossi allotted the prestigious event to India during a meeting of the world body at the Chateauroux in the Paris Games.
The medallists of the last World Cup Finals staged in Doha, Qatar, will also automatically qualify for the event. That apart, the top-six shooters in each of the 12 individual events will also make it to the World Cup Finals. There will be a cap of two shooters per nation in each of the 12 events. India is also likely to have wild card entries, apart from those who make the cut on merit.
The event will offer prize money of €5,000, €4,000 and €3,000 to the gold, silver and bronze medallists in each event.
Quite remarkably, it will be the tenth international event in India in the last ten years. The World Cup in Bhopal last year was the last international shooting event held in the country.
Happy to make the announcement, the vice-president of NRAI, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said, “One of the reasons for our continued success on the international stage in recent years across disciplines has been our endeavour to regularly bring such world class competitions in India. It attracts youngsters to the sport when they see their stars perform in front of them at the highest level. It elevates the profile of the sport in the country”.
The secretary general of NRAI, Sultan Singh said, “We hope our shooting stars take full advantage of a home event to win more international accolades. It is a chance for the fans to see their favourites match up against the world’s best”.
It will be the second World Cup Finals to be staged in India following the one held in 2017.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
CUE SPORTS
Senior cueist Sathe loses, Mushtaque progresses in Western India Billiards and Snooker
Khar Gymkhana’s 90-year-old cueist SL Sathe fought valiantly but lost to Kolhapur’s Anil Kumar while West Bengal’s Saqlain Mushtaq made it to the main round in the Western India Billiards and Snooker Championship here on Thursday.
Sathe exhibited fighting spirit despite losing the first frame as he won the second by pocketing the last three colours. However, he could not match the 55-year-old Anil from Kolhapur as the latter won by a margin of 4-1 (21-50, 56-42, 17-73, 27-66, and 50-77).
West Bengal’s Mushtaque blanked Abhijeet Airen from Madhya Pradesh 4-0, coasting to a 71-26, 60-40, 51-28, and 56-7 victory and qualified for the main draw.
In second-round games, Mumbai’s Brijesh Nanavati got the better of city mate Om Sawant 4-3 (13-53, 27-65, 73-65, 1-78, 54-41, 68-43, and 49-33).
RESULTS
Senior snooker – Round 3: Shashi Patel (GUJ) bt Mahesh Jagdale (MUM) 4-0 (61-50, 69-35, 70-41, 64-59); Aashit Pandya (MUM) bt Joseph Menezes (MUM) 4-1 (67-29, 67-20, 40-66, 60-34, 81-16); Shakir Qureshi (MUM) bt Sanjiv Shah (MUM) 4-0 (72-29, 50-3, 74-15, 56-41); Saqlain Mushtaque (WB) bt Abhijeet Airen (MP) 4-0 (71-26, 60-40, 51-28, 56-7); Kanishk Jhanjaria (MAH) bt Sumit Naidu (MP) 4-0 (63(40)-17, 56-36, 58-38, 63-30).
Round 2: Brijesh Nanavati (MUM) bt Om Sawant (MUM) 4-3 (13-53, 27-65, 73-65, 1-78, 54-41, 68-43, 49-33); Rebanta Sahijwani (MUM) bt Sumit Ahuja (MUM) 4-3 (1-0, 66-34, 12-60, 76-54, 50-69, 46-78, 68-29); Kalpesh Mevada (MUM) bt Akash Asrani (MUM) 4-1 (46-11, 68-28, 58-40, 28-54, 61-50); Ajinkya Yelve (MUM) bt Tohan Jain (MUM) 4-2 (56-34, 65-40, 62-45, 49-57, 28-55, 67-29); Anant Mehta (MUM) bt Akshay Gogri (MUM) 4-1 (22-39, 72-16, 59-33, 57-22, 62-24); Gaurav Chhabra (MP) bt Birju Kanani (MUM) 4-2 (40-65, 54-35, 68-30, 33-46, 56-22, 51-16).
-PTI
