Kynan best Indian as trap shooters fall short of finals in individual events in Nicosia

New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Olympian Kynan Chenai was the best Indian on show as India’s trap shooting squad fell short of the finals mark in the individual men’s and women’s events, on the penultimate day of the year’s third International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun stage in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Kynan (24,24,22,24,23) closed with rounds of 24 and 23, for a total of 117 in the men’s trap qualifiers and 17th spot in the final rankings.

Manuel Murcia of Spain and Lada Denisova of the Neutral Athletes (AIN) won gold in the men’s and women’s events, respectively. The Trap Mixed Team event follows on the last day, on Sunday, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) informed in a release on Saturday.

The other Indian scores and positions of the day were as follows:

Trap Men: Shardul Vihan 113 (24,21,19,24,25) -- 62nd; Bhowneesh Mendiratta 113 (23,22,23,23,22) -- 65th

Trap Women: Kirti Gupta 114 (22,22,22,25,23) -- 15th; Rajeshwari Kumari 114 (23,22,23,23,23) -- 17th; Sabeera Haris 112 (22,21,23,24,22=112) -- 27th.

Earlier this week, Abhay Singh Sekhon, the youngest member of the Indian men’s skeet shooting trio at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun in Nicosia, Cyprus, raised hopes of a final entry, ending day two of qualifications in fifth place and a tally of 98 after four rounds.

The Punjab youngster was just one off the pace, with former world champion and Olympic silver medalist Jesper Hansen of Denmark and former junior world champion Elia Sdruccioli of Italy leading the 91-strong field with 99 hits each.

Abhay (25,24,24,25) had missed just one target over two rounds on Monday and repeated the feat on day two Tuesday, only this time finishing with a perfect round instead of beginning with one. He has six other strong shooters for company on the same tally, and the fight for the top six finalists on day three will likely go down to the last shot and multiple shoot-offs, ahead of the final.

--IANS

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