India's Meghana Sajjanar has won her first-ever World Cup medal, securing a bronze in the women's 10m air rifle event at the season-ending ISSF World Cup in Ningbo, China. This medal brings India's final tally to two for the tournament, which concludes a successful run for the Indian women shooting contingent.
In her first World Cup final in eight years, the 31-year-old Meghana shot a score of 230.0 to claim the bronze. The event was dominated by China's Peng Xinlu, who won gold and set a new world record with a score of 255.3. Norway's Jeanette Hegg Duestad took the silver medal. Meghana had a slow start in the final but showed great composure to steadily climb the leaderboard and hold off her competitors to secure her first individual international medal.
The bronze from Meghana follows the gold medal won by Esha Singh in the women’s 10m air pistol event on Saturday. Esha’s victory was a tense one, decided by just a 0.1 point margin over China's Yao Qianxun. These two medals were the only ones for India at the Ningbo meet, showcasing a strong but focused performance from the team.
The tournament saw a mixed bag of results for other Indian shooters. Kiran Ankush Jadhav qualified for the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions final but finished in eighth place after a difficult start. Olympic medallist Swapnil Kusale had a disappointing outing, finishing 21st and failing to qualify for the final in the same event.
With two medals (one gold and one bronze), India finished fifth in the medal standings. China topped the tally with three golds. The performances of Esha and Meghana highlight the depth of talent within the Indian shooting team as they look ahead to the challenges of the next year.