Manavjit Singh Sandhu produced a strong test of character to clinch a bronze medal, finishing behind Ian Peel of Britain and Adam Vella of Australia, in the trap event in the shotgun World Cup at the Dr Karni Singh range in Tughlakabad, Delhi on Friday.
Twenty-six-year-old Manavjit came up with a total tally of 118, shooting a 23 in the final round.
"I am happy with the performance here. Peel was shooting steadily so I had to concentrate on holding on," Manavjit, who pockets a purse of Rs one million, along with Rajyavardhan Rathore, told newspersons after the solid display.
Rathore had earlier won the bronze in the double trap competition.
Manavjit wants to continue his brilliant run here.
"I won a medal and I am running up good scores for the last few months. I have been hitting the first barrels consistently," said Manavjit, whose focus now is to manage a quota in the Asian championship in Malaysia.
Olympic silver medallist Ian Peel showed consistency and class throughout, registering a spectacular 121, with a final round of 25, thus taking home the gold.
"Yes, I came out in full gear. The shooting has improved and I am looking forward to more competition," said the 45-year-old Peel, who works as a textile manager.
Adam Vella, who had won the gold in the Perth World Cup recently and had thus confirmed his Olympic quota, scored a net of 120, finishing with the silver.
The seasoned Indian trap shooters struggled to cope with the conditions.
Anwer Sultan shot 114 while Mansher Singh had a total of 116 ending up at the 22nd and 12th spot respectively.
Birendeep Sodhi was on target among the juniors, finishing in the top spot with a total of 114. Birendeep, who has been winning the national sub-junior and junior title for the last six seasons, was followed at 96 by Akur Singh, among the three juniors.
But Indian marksmen were off-target in the skeet event. Eleuteri Cristian of Italy finished with gold scoring 148 out of 150. George Achilleds of Cyprus took the second spot with a score of 147 pipping contender Tino Wanzel of Germany to the third spot in the tie-break.
Amardeep Singh Rai totalled 117, while Rao Inderjit Singh and Naveen Jindal managed 110 to finish almost at the bottom.
