ISSF World Cup: Heena Sidhu, Jitu Rai win gold in 10m Air Pistol event

New Delhi: Ace Indian shooters Heena Sidhu and Jitu Rai on Monday clinched the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event here at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup.

The Indian duo won the first-ever medal in the discipline by beating Japan in the finals at the Karni Singh Shooting Range.

"In Rio Olympics, a lot of hopes were pinned on these shooting duo but they failed to notch up the results.Meanwhile, this is the first time that shooters are competing in mixed events at a World Cup, with talk of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics most likely including the discipline for the first time at the biggest stage.

As the mixed team events are Test-only event, there will be no official World Cup medals and no official scores added to the shooters` accolades.

Earlier, Pooja Ghatkar, who had narrowly missed out on winning a quota berth for the 2016 Rio Olympics, had won bronze for India in the 10m Air Rifle event.

The 28-year-old posted 228.8 in the final of the event to finish third on the podium and win her maiden World Cup medal.

Former world number one Sidhu, on the other hand, could not make the cut and finished 11th in the qualification stage with a total score of 378 in the women`s 10m air pistol final on Monday.