ISSF 2017: India finish fifth with five medals at shooting World Cup

New Delhi: India ended their campaign in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) with five medals, including one Gold, two Silver and two Bronze medals here at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range on Thursday.

The home side finished at the fifth place in the medal tally behind table toppers China, Italy, Australia and Japan.India`s Sheeraz Sheikh ended at the sixth position in the men`s Skeet event on the final day of the tournament.

Sheikh did come up with a lifetime best performance, shooting 121 in qualifying and even getting the better of former World Champion and World No. 8 Jesper Hensen of Denmark in a shoot-off for a place in the final round.

However, he fizzled out in the final and could only manage to take the sixth spot.This was Sheeraz` first ever World Cup final in seven years of Skeet shooting and comes on the back of another final appearance in the recently held Asian Shotgun Championships in Abu Dhabi, where he had finished fifth.

The gold went to Italy`s Riccardo Filippelli, who beat compatriot and reigning Olympic Champion Gabriele Rossetti in the final.

Australia`s Paul Adams won the Bronze medal.It has arguably been one of India`s best World Cup finishes ever with shooters Pooja Ghatkar in the Women`s Air Rifle (Bronze), Ankur Mittal in Men`s Double Trap (Silver), Amanpreet Singh in Men`s 50M Pistol (Silver) and hero of the New Delhi World Cup Jitu Rai in the Men`s 10M Air Pistol and 50M Pistol (Bronze and Gold) winning medals for the hosts.