Suruchi Phogat wins team gold with Saurabh Chaudhary
India struck another gold medal as 18-year-old Suruchi Inder Singh Phogat continued her remarkable recent form as she combined with Saurabh Chaudhary to win the 10m air pol mixed team title. The Indian duo came from behind to beat China’s Qianxun Yao and Kai Hu 17-9 at the Las Palmas shooting range Lima, Peru in the year’s second International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup Rifle/Pol/Shotgun stage. Suruchi made it back-to-back golds in Lima, as she had won the individual event gold the previous night ahead of Manu Bhaker who had won silver.
Saurabh started the gold medal with a perfect 10.9 as India took the first set but China took the next three for a 6-2 lead. It prompted India coach Samaresh Jung to take a timeout, with Saurabh struggling after that brilliant first shot. India made it 4-6 and then with a superb 10.7-10.7 from Saurabh and Suruchi made the gap to just two points at 6-8. The eighth series was split between the two teams. Suruchi then shot her first perfect 10.9 of the match as India made it 9-9 and forced China to take their timeout. It didn’t help at least immediately as India retook the lead for the first time since the opening series, going up 11-9 and extending it to 13-9. Suruchi kept hitting the higher 10s as a 10.5 from her gave India match point opportunities at 15-9. Suruchi’s scores in the final read: 9.7, 10.4, 10.1, 10.5, 10.3, 10.0, 10.7, 10.3, 10.9, 10.1, 9.8, 10.5, 10.6.
In the bronze medal match, Manu Bhaker and Ravinder Singh were off to a slow start against Qianke Ma and Yifan Zhang, losing the first four sets to trail 0-8. It prompted a timeout India and immediately after Manu and Ravinder opened their account. Manu’s 10.6 in the sixth series helped India close the gap to 4-8 and it was China’s turn to take a timeout. It arrested India’s momentum briefly, but a strong 10.6 and 10.4 from Ravinder and Manu saw India make it 6-10 and stay in contention. But China soon had match points as they picked up the next two high-scoring sets to lead 14-6 and eventually got through 16-6.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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