ISSF World Cup: Abhishek Verma shoots gold, Saurabh Chaudhary settles for bronze in 10m air pistol

Asian medallist Abhishek Verma bagged a gold medal while young Indian shooter Saurabh Chaudhary settled for the bronze in the men's 10m air pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. 

29-year-old Abhishek, who also won the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing in April this year, shot a score of 244.2 in the eight-man final to take the top honours. 

Meanwhile, Artem Chernousov of Turkey and Indian teen sensation Saurabh Chaudhary settled for silver and bronze medals after posting a score of 243.1 and 221.9, respectively in the season's fourth ISSF World Cup for rifle and pistols.

Earlier, Abhishek had booked his place in the final of the 10m air pistol event after finishing at the fifth position with 582 points in the qualification. Saurabh, on the other hand, made a fourth-place finish in the qualification with 584 points.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev Rajput--another Indian in the fray-- bagged a silver medal in men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event after posting a score of 462. The result also saw Rajput secure an Olympic Quota for Tokyo 2020.

Petar Gorsa from Croatia clinched a gold medal in the event, while Changhong Zhang from the People’s Republic of China finished at the third place. 

India is currently placed at the top of the medals tally, with two gold, one silver and one bronze. 

Earlier, Elavenil Valarivan opened India's account in the ongoing competition with a gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle event.