INDIA/KOREA: Young Indian shooter Arjun Babuta baffled his US rival and Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Lucas Kozeniesky to win the men’s 10m air rifle final and secure India’s position in the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea on Monday. In the fight for gold, Babuta wowed and humbled Kozeniesky’s proud stance as a silver medallist, emerging as a clear-cut winner in the one-sided contest of 17-9.
The 23-year-old from Punjab, who has been representing India since 2016, had earlier topped the ranks with an impressive 261.1 points to qualify for the gold medal rush. This is Arjun’s maiden gold for the senior side. He had acquired gold at the 2016 World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan.
On the opposition, Kozeniesky acquired 260.4 to join him as Israel shooter Sergey Richter stuck on bronze at 259.9. The American silver medallist did not give up the fight but was powerless in front of Babuta, who pulled the big guns, literally, and scored the big high 10s at a strategic time and finished in time to secure India’s state as a tough competitor with the brightest medal possible.
Another Indian shooter, Parth Makhija, failed to qualify in the top 3 but secured a generous 5th place at the ranking event following a spectacular show on Sunday, and finished fourth with a score of 258.1.
It was difficult to contain the daring of an ambitious Babuta as he raced to a 10-4 lead after the first seven single-shot series.
The rules of the game are thus- the winner of each series gets two points while the points are split in case of a tie and the first one to reach 16 wins the match.
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