Sandhu wins World Cup bronze, misses out on Olympic quota

Acapulco (Mexico), March 4 : Former World Champion Mavjit Sandhu missed out on an Olympic quota by a whisker as he claimed India’s first podium with a bronze at the World Cup Shotgun Championships here.

The veteran was involved in an exciting fil against the world’s best trap shooters before settling for third place in the event, which offered two spots for next year’s Rio Olympics.

Sandhu, who entered the bronze medal match after winning the slot through a shoot-off in the semi-fil, had to endure yet another shoot-off after both he and Portuguese Joao Azevedo shot an identical 12 targets out of 15.

It was in this second shoot-off that the veteran emerged victorious accounting for three targets out of five to Joao’s two.

Italian Massimo Fabbrizi, who shot 12 targets in the fil as opposed to 13 in the semi-fil, won gold while the silver went to famed Australian shooter Michael Diamond, who shot 11 targets in the fil. The top two earned their Olympic quotas. (IANS)