Hriday Hazarika, a former junior world champion from Assam, made headlines on Friday after winning his first individual senior World Cup shooting medal in Baku, Azerbaijan. Alongside Nancy of Haryana, Hriday clinched the silver medal in the men’s 10m air rifle discipline.
Despite a fantastic performance in the final, Hriday was defeated by Hungary’s Zalan Pekler, who shot 252.4 to Hriday’s 251.9. Meanwhile, Nancy won silver in the women’s 10m air rifle discipline, narrowly missing out on the gold to China’s Han Jiayu.
In an interview after the game, Hriday stated that he did not have any expectations going into the event and was just focused on executing his plan. He started strong with a score of 10.1 in the opening shot and maintained his position until the 20th shot when Sheng Lihao overtook him. Despite his best efforts, Hriday was unable to catch up with Pekler, finishing just 0.5 behind.
