Sift Kaur Samra Secures India’s First Gold at Shooting World Cup in Argentina
New Delhi: Indian shooter Sift Kaur Samra clinched India’s first gold medal at the ongoing ISSF Shooting World Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a remarkable comeback in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) event. This is her maiden individual gold in an ISSF World Cup event.
The 23-year-old shooter from Faridkot, Punjab, delivered a stunning performance late on Friday night at the Tiro Federal Argentino de Buenos Aires shooting range. Trailing Germany’s Anita Mangold by 7.2 points after the kneeling position, Sift mounted a sensational recovery in the prone and standing positions to finish on top.
She concluded the 45-shot final with a score of 458.6, finishing 3.3 points ahead of Mangold, who scored 455.3 to claim silver. Kazakhstan’s junior world championship medalist Arina Altukhova was eliminated after the 44th shot with a score of 445.9, settling for bronze.
As per agency report, this victory brought India its first gold in the tournament, after the country had gone medal-less on the opening day. India now stands second in the medal tally with one gold and one bronze, the latter secured by Chain Singh in the men’s 3P event. China leads the table with one gold and one silver.
Sift had topped the qualification round with a score of 590, ensuring a strong start. Notably, current Olympic champion Chiara Leone of Switzerland and former Olympic champion Nina Christen failed to make the top eight. Other prominent names like Kazakhstan’s Aleksandra Le and Olympic medalist Mary Tucker of the USA also fell short in the qualifiers.
In skeet shooting, four qualification rounds have been completed. Paris Olympian Raiza Dhillon leads among Indian women shooters with scores of 25, 22, 24, and 23, totaling 94 points and placing her sixth—just enough for the final qualifying position. Ganemat Sekhon is placed 11th with 92 points, while Darshna Rathore is in 18th place with 89.
Among the men, Bhavtegh Gill scored 94 and currently holds the 18th spot, followed by Anant Jeet Singh Naruka with 93 and Gurjoat Khangura with 91. One more qualification round remains before the final event.
