She beat the reigning world champion, Zorana Arunovic, in the race for gold, closing the round with a total score of 203.8 points to her Serbian opponents' 198.6 points.

The victory came as a huge surprise for Sindhu who had never won a top-level competition before and her highest finish in this year's World Cup series had been two eighth places in Changwon, South Korea, and in Munich, in May.

The youngster had not even been shortlisted amongst the top eight athletes to compete in the Finals but, due to withdrawals from three of the shooters, was called up to participate at the last minute.

"This medal is a bit of surprise," she said.

"I was not even supposed to participate in this World Cup Final.

"The qualified athlete could not come here, and the following two qualified shooters withdraw their participation.

"I was the next in the qualification line and I picked up the chance.

"I had to do my visa and arrange a flight to come here in two days."

The bronze medal was picked up by Belarusian Viktoria Chaika who ended the final with a total score of 176.8 points.

Italy's Andrea Amore walked away with gold in the men's 10m Air Pistol event adding a third gold to Italy's haul for the day



The men's 10m air pistol event saw Andrea Amore pick up Italy's third gold medal of the day, following successes in the three rifle positions events.

The Italian, a silver medallist at this year's ISSF World Cup in Granada, clinched the title ahead of China's Zhiwei Wang and Ukraine's Oleh Omelchuk.

The three shooters fought neck and neck for the gold medal, with just 0.3 points separating them going into the 18th shot.

It was here where the tables started to turn in favour of Amore, as Oleh and Wang both scored in the eights giving the Italian the opportunity to jump ahead of his rivals.

Oleh's 8.6 led to him having to settle for the bronze medal with Wang's 8.8 and subsequent 8.0 on the final shot leaving him 0.8 points behind Amore in second.

Fourth placed Korean shooter, Jin Jongoh, looked in contention for a medal for the majority of the final, however, two high 10 scores from Amore turned around a 0.8 point deficit on the 15th and 16th shots leaving the reigning Olympic champion just shy of a podium place.

Petra Zublasing collected Italy's first gold of the day with victory in the women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event



The first event of the day saw Italy's Petra Zublasing finish atop of the 50m rifle three positions women podium, with an unmatchable advantage of 4.8 points on Serbia's Andrea Arsovic.

The two shooters were duelling for the lead from the onset of the competition with Arsovic taking the advantage in the early kneeling position before Zublasing came clawing back as the field took to the prone position.

The final standing position is where the Italian really came into her own, and after firing 15 fantastic shots, she built a solid 4.8 point lead to end the competition on top with a total score of 462.7 points.

"I am super-happy of this Cup, and winning it also means that I will participate in next year's ISSF World Cup Final too, as a title defender," Zublasing said.

"At the same time, it's a bittersweet victory.

"I am sad for the girl who closed the final in last, after leading the qualifications due to the new start-from-zero rule which zeros the qualification scores.

"I would have preferred to win this gold with the old rules.

"I am really satisfied of my standing position.

"I have changed it three weeks ago, and today I have found it quite solid.

"I am already working on the road to Rio 2016.

"I have three years to refine the three positions, and I am looking forward to the next international competitions.

"Each match is training for the next Games, from now on."

China's Wu Liuxi, bronze medallist in yesterday's 10m air rifle event, added to her, and her nations, great start in the World Cup finals as she took another with a total score of 446.4 points.

Olympic champion Niccolo Campriani followed the lead set by girlfriend Zublasing, taking gold in the men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event



Just minutes after watching his girlfriend collect the gold medal in the women's medal ceremony, Olympic champion Niccolo Campriani, not wanting to be outshone, secured gold in the men's contest.

"I won a World Cup gold today, but it's indeed a silver," Campriani said, with a smile on his face, right after the medal ceremony.

"Petra shot better than me in her final, today!

"Being a couple definitely reflects on our shooting performances: we can train together, at the same level, and that helps us to grow."

"I have not seen her for one year, while she was finishing her bachelor [degree] in USA and I was studying for my master in England.

"I found her changed a lot: she's a better shooter now, and she's built up some self-confidence."

Campriani faced tough opposition from Norway's Kristian Ole Bryhn throughout the final, however, a couple of costly shots that scored in the eights during the standing stage left the Norwegian 1.6 points behind the Italian.

"I shot really good today, I am definitely happy about it," Campriani said.

"I did not expect such result: I just came back from China and I did not really train a lot for this event.

"Furthermore, this is my first final with the new rules.

"The new final starts with the kneeling position, and that turns into an advantage for me.

"The kneeling has always been my weakest position, so after that I have a chance to come back in the standing."

The bronze medal went to the Ukraine's Youth Olympic Games bronze medallist, Serhiy Kulish, who was eliminated from the contest after scoring a disappointing 8.3 on his 12th shot to finish on 447.3 points.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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