Introduction

ISSF yet again gets India a gold medal for shooting. Divyansh Singh Panwar fired a world record 253.7 in the final to win the air rifle gold at the World Cup in Cairo, Egypt, on Sunday.

It was Divyansh’s fourth World Cup gold medal, adhering to wins in Munich, Beijing, and Delhi since 2019.

The former world number one, Olympian Divyansh, qualified in style, dominating the field with 632.4. He topped Italian Danilo Sollazzo by 1.9 points to win the gold medal. Sheng LIhao of China set the previous world mark of 253.3 for the men’s final at last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou. Sheng’s qualifying world record remains at 637.9.

Surprisingly another Chinese, Han Jiayu, has the women’s world record for air rifle at 254.0, which she set at the World Cup in Baku last year.

Arjun Babuta made it to the final but ranked sixth.

India topped the medals table, receiving two gold and two silver medals. Spain finished second with one gold and one silver medal, overtaking Kazakhstan, Britain, Greece, and Korea.

Indian shooters Divyansh Singh Panwar, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, and Rudrankksh Patil made history when they broke the world record in the men’s 10m Air Rifle team event, clinching India’s first gold medal at the Asian Games 2023. Let us go at the background of Divyansh Singh Panwar.

About Divyanash Singh

Born on October 19, 2002, Divyansh Singh Panwar is a well-known personality in Indian sport shooting. He won the silver medal in the 10-meter air rifle event at the 2019 ISSF World Cup, held in Beijing. This extraordinary feat also won India a coveted quota spot at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where Divyansh finished 32nd in the Men’s 10-meter air rifle event.

Divyansh’s roots go back to Jaipur, Rajasthan, where he was born to Ashok.

Panwar began shooting at the young age of 12 in Jaipur, and after his family relocated to Delhi in 2017, he competed in junior and youth nationals, as well as trials, and won all of the gold. This propelled him onto the senior team in 2018. In 2019, he won gold in the World Cup finals and silver in Beijing, earning him a quota for the Tokyo Olympics. He also won gold at the Asian Championships in 2019 and a gold medal in the World Cup finals mixed team event in 2019.

For someone whose shooting was going well a year into the Olympics, the COVID-19-induced pause has hampered his recovery. But he is optimistic about finding his rhythm.

Divyansh said “Today’s performance is a confidence booster for me. I have been working to find my form for over a year now, but now I feel I am getting there,

ISSF

The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) administers Olympic shooting events. It also oversees many non-Olympic shooting sports. The Federation’s responsibilities include regulating the sport, overseeing Olympic qualification events and quota slots, and organising international tournaments that include the ISSF World Cup series and ISSF World Championships.

The International Shooting Union (ISU), also known as the Union Internationale de Tir (UIT), was created in 1907 and changed its name in 1998. The Federation represents over 150 National Shooting Federations located all over the world. The ISSF’s headquarters are in Munich, Germany. Luciano Rossi, a former Italian Senator and chairman of the Italian Clay Pigeon Federation (FITAV), has been the ISSF President since 2022.

ISSF Results –

Later in the day, Sonam Uttam Maskar, competing in her first ISSF World Cup, bagged the silver medal in the women’s 10m air rifle competition at the Egypt International Olympic City Shooting range.

Sonam shot 252.1 in the eight-woman final, finishing 0.9 behind Germany’s Anna Janssen. Poland’s Aneta Stankiewicz (230.4) won bronze, piping India’s Nancy (209.5) to the final podium.

Sonam and Nancy had made the final after shooting scores of 632.7 and 633.1, respectively to finish the 60-shot qualification round in fifth and fourth spots, respectively.

India’s Tilottama Sen was 29th in qualification with a score of 627.6 while Ramita, playing for RPO, was 10th after shooting 632.0