New Delhi: Skeet shooter Sheeraz Sheikh came up with a career-best performance, scoring 121 in qualifying, but could not replicate his form in the final to finish sixth in the men’s event on the final day of the ISSF World Cup at the Karni Singh range here on Thursday. India ended fifth with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
China, Italy, Australia and Japan led the medals tally in that order.
Sheikh, who had got the better of former world champion and world number 8 Jesper Hensen of Denmark in a shoot-off at the qualification stage, reached his maiden final round.
This was Sheikh’s first World Cup final in seven years of skeet shooting and came on the back of another final in the recent Asian Shotgun Championships in Abu Dhabi, where he was fifth.
In the final here, Sheikh was sixth with a total of 16 out of 20 shots, having missed a few early birds at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Italy’s Riccardo Filippelli (57) beat compatriot and reigning Olympic champion Gabriele Rossetti (53) for the gold medal in the final. Australia’s Paul Adams (45) took the bronze.
Said Sheikh, who was earlier a cricketer and had represented Uttar Pradesh in the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, “It was a good experience. I felt good but I missed a few shots. There is scope for improvement.”
