Samrat Rana made history in Cairo on Monday when he won the men’s 10m air pistol gold at the ISSF World Championship. The 22‑year‑old became the first Indian to win an individual world title in Olympic‑sized shooting.
In the final, Rana fired a perfect 243.7, edging China’s Hu Kai by just 0.4 points. His teammate Varun Tomar added a bronze with 221.7, giving India a double podium finish.
“It was the first senior World Championships for me, yet I won gold—still hard to believe,” Rana said to the National Rifle Association of India. “I just focused on my technique and kept my eye on the target, not the screen.”
Rana joins a small group of Indian shooters who have lifted a world title in an Olympic event: Abhinav Bindra, Rudrankksh Patil, Tejaswini Sawant, and the mixed‑team pair of Shiva Narwal and Esha Singh.
After a strong opening, Rana held a slight lead after the first two shots. He slipped to third halfway through the final, trailing Tomar by 0.2 points. Then, with six shots left, Rana hit two perfect 10.9 scores and surged back to the top. He needed at least a 10.3 on his last shot to beat Hu Kai, and he delivered a 10.6 to seal the win.
Earlier in the day, Rana and Tomar both topped the qualification round with 586 points each. The trio also helped India claim the men’s 10m air pistol team gold with 582 from Shravan Kumar.
Not all day was smooth for India’s shooters. Olympic medalists Manu Bhaker and Swapnil Kusale struggled. Bhaker briefly led the women’s 10m air pistol final before an 8.8 on her 14th shot dropped her to seventh. Esha Singh finished sixth after an 8.4 on her 16th. In the men’s 50m rifle 3‑positions, Kusale was eliminated early after scoring 575, while Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Niraj Kumar moved on to the next round.
The Cairo championship showcased India’s growing strength in shooting, with Rana’s gold setting a new benchmark for the country’s athletes on the world stage.
Source: ianslive
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