CHANGWON: Up against an Olympic silver medallist in a World Cup final, young Indian shooter Arjun Babuta had his task cut out. But neither the occasion nor the opponent could affect him.
Instead, Babuta came up with a stunning performance against Tokyo Olympics silver winner Lucas Kozeniesky to win the men's 10m air rifle event in the ongoing ISSF World Cup on Monday.
In a tense final that saw a series of 10s from both him and Kozeniesky, it was the former who emerged victorious, humbling the American 17-9.
"Ideally, I should have felt the pressure of facing Lucas and could have got carried away by the occasion but I stayed calm and did not let any burden upon me which helped in winning the gold," Arjun told Sportsflashes Radio.
While a strong 32-member Indian squad is currently taking part in the World Cup, the sport, however, will not be part of the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The 23-year-old shooter from Punjab expressed his disappointment and said that the sport's exclusion from the CWG will rob many Indian shooters of a chance to win medals.
"I am very heartbroken due to the shooting's omission from CWG. As a budding shooter, I thought CWG experience would be very useful to me and I could have ended up on the podium as well. But this is part of the destiny and I hope they include shooting next time," Arjun said.
"I have now let go of the disappointment and am looking forward to the World Championship in October which will give us quota places for the Olympics," he added.
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