Athens, Oct 17 (PTI) Veteran Indian trap shooter Zoravar Singh Sandhu's nearly three-decade-long toil bore fruit when he won his maiden ISSF World Championships (Shotgun) bronze medal here on Friday.
The medal helped India open its account in the prestigious tournament.
The bronze medal comes 19 years after Olympian Manavjit Singh Sandhu became world champion in Zagreb in the event in 2006.
The 48-year-old Sandhu, who has trained all his life at the Dr Karni Singh Ranges in New Delhi first in skeet and then in trap, shot impressively on the third and final day of trap competition to finish with a score of 31 in the six-shooter final.
Croatia's former Olympic champion Josip Glasnovic (44) took the gold, while Andres Garcia of Spain (39) bagged the silver.
Sandhu, a multiple-time national champion and winner of two World Cup medals, had fired two perfect rounds of 25 each on Thursday to rise to second on the qualification leaderboard with a score of 99/100. The Delhi-based marksman shot another 23/25 in the fifth and final qualification round to aggregated 122/125.
The score helped him finish sixth in qualification and enter the medal round.
In the final, Sandhu held his nerve to finish ahead of Croatia's multiple-time World Cup gold medallist and former European champion Anton Glasnovic to take the bronze, the biggest achievement of his career.
"It was a great experience. It was a tough range, tough conditions to shoot but that's how it is and here we are. I would like to thank my family and my coaches and teammates for their support," said Sandhu after the final.
In a medal round that had 2016 Rio Olympics champion Josip Glasnovic, Sandhu overcame showers and fading light to nail down 31 of the first 40 targets in the 50-shot final.
The team of Sandhu, Vivaan Kapoor and Bhowneesh Mendiratta aggregated 352 to finish 10th.
"It is a historic moment for Indian shooting with Zoravar helping us win only a second individual world championship medal in trap. It shows the level of confidence of our shooting squad that with every international outing, new barriers are being breached," said National Rifle Association of India president Kalikesh Singh Deo.
"Full marks to Zoravar for his commitment and dedication and also to (foreign coach) Peter Wilson." In women's trap, India's Aashima Ahlawat finished 40th in a 73-shooter field with 109, while Neeru (109) was 43rd and Kirti Gupta (101) was 62nd. The team aggregated 319 to finish eighth.
Spain took the gold with a score of 355.
The mixed trap team competition will get underway on Saturday with two Indian pairs -- Sandhu and Aashima, and Bhowneesh and Neeru -- in contention.
This report includes content sourced from Press Trust of India (PTI), edited for clarity and context.
