Udhayveer Sidhu opened India’s account at the ISSF World Cup in Cairo, Egypt, on October 11 by clinching the gold medal in the men’s 10m air pistol event.
This was Udhayveer’s first medal at the World Cup.
He accumulated 240.6 points, edging Germany’s Christian Reitz, the Rio Olympic gold medallist in 25 m rapid fire pistol event, by just 0.5 points in a closely fought final. Reitz scored 240.1 to take silver, while Italy’s Paolo Monna claimed bronze with 219.8 points.
The final turned out to be a breathtaking contest, with Udhayveer and Reitz engaging in a neck-and-neck battle. The Indian shooter stayed calm in the closing stages to seal the gold medal. Reitz remained in contention throughout the contest, but Udhayveer’s calm and composed final shot helped the Indian edge past the German by the narrowest of margins.
Monna completed the podium, finishing third with 219.8 points, ahead of Greece’s Georgios Gampierakis, who accumulated 198.7. Latvia’s Emils Vasermanis finished fifth with 177.6 points, followed by Czechia’s Pavel Schejbal in sixth with 157.8 points.
Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec, who went viral on social media during the 2024 Paris Olympics for his languid shooting style, finished seventh with 138.0 points, while compatriot Bugra Selimzade completed the eight-man final in eighth place with 116.3.
Earlier, in the qualification round, Udhayveer qualified for the final in fourth place. He collected 585 points, the same total as Reitz. However, with Reitz shooting 20 inner tens compared to Udhayveer’s 19, the German finished ahead of the Indian in qualification.
Monna topped the qualification round with 586 points and 25 inner tens. India’s Jonathan Gavin Antony also scored 586-25x but was listed as an RPO, as he was competing only for ranking points and was not eligible to enter the final.
India have won one gold medal so far and are currently placed second in the standings at the World Cup in Cairo, which runs from October 8 to 11.
Udhayveer will also compete in the 25m rapid-fire pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team events later in the tournament.
