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The pair of Neeru Dhanda and Vivaan Kapoor won bronze in the trap mixed team event on Sunday, helping India conclude the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on a high. Neeru and Vivaan shot 24 out of the first 30 targets in the final and, despite matching the top Italian pair of Silvana Stanco and Mauro De Filippis, had to miss out on a better medal, having finished second to the silver-winning Italians in qualification, according to a press release.

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Competition and Qualification

Chinese Taipei's Kun-Pi Yang and Wan-Yu Liu won a second World Cup gold with a world record score of 36 in the final. Vivaan and Neeru had shot 143 in qualification, finishing just two behind Silvana, a Paris Olympic silver medalist, and Mauro, a former world champion in the event. Both shot perfect third rounds of 25 each to confirm their final spots, with Vivaan missing two out of his 75 targets.

Teammates Ahvar Rizvi and Pragati Dubey shot 130 to finish 23rd in the 31-team competition.

The Final Showdown

After the first 10 targets in the decider, Kun and Wan led the field with a perfect score. Neeru missed her third, to put India in second after Vivaan shot down all five of his targets to extend his qualification form. Italy and China were fighting for third place, having hit five of their first 10 targets.

Italy won that fight by one hit after 20 targets, as Chinese Taipei extended their lead by two over India, as Neeru missed two targets more. The Italians then showed their class in the third series, missing none, even as Vivaan missed his first of the final on his 13th shot. In the end, both pairs ended up on the same score, with the Italians surviving because of their qualification performance.

It was still a commendable first ISSF World Cup medal for Neeru and Vivaan in the Olympic event and India's second since the event became an Olympic event last year. (ANI)