ISSF World Cup: Pooja Ghatkar wins bronze medal in women's 10m air rifle event

Indian shooter Pooja Ghatkar on Friday won bronze medal in women’s 10 m air rifle event at ISSF Shooting World Cup.

Pooja finished third with a total of 228.8 in the 10m Air Rifle final after China's Mengyao Shi, won a gold medal with 252.1 in final and Dong Lijie, bagged the silver medal.

This was Pooja's first World Cup medal and she is also an Asian champion in 10m air rifle.

Mentored by Olympic bronze-medallist Gagan Narang,Ghatkar managed a fine 10.8 and 10.7 in her 19th and 21stshots to assure herself of a medal.     

In the course of her campaign, Ghatkar faced an obstacleas the blinder of her gun fell and she had to shoot her finalfew shots with an eye closed, a remarkable achievement.     

Helping her overcome the obstacle were the tips fromNarang on the eve of the event.     

In the qualification, Ghatkar finished in second positionwith 418.0 behind eventual champion Mengayo (418.6) and aheadof the Lijie (417.7).

(With Inputs from PTI)