In the gold medal match, Swapnil and Ashi defeated Serhiy Kulish and Daria Tykhova of Ukraine 16-12.
Digital Desk: On Saturday, Swapnil Kusale and Ashi Chouksey brought India's drive at the ISSF World Cup in Rifle/Pistol/Shootgun in Baku, Azerbaijan, to a close with a gold medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) mixed team competition.
In the gold medal match, Swapnil and Ashi defeated Serhiy Kulish and Daria Tykhova of Ukraine 16-12.
It was the second gold medal in the tournament by team India, following a yellow metal won by the trio of Elavenil Valarivan, Shreya Agarwal, and Ramita in the 10m air rifle women's team event.
In addition, the Indian shooters won three silver medals in the tournament and finished second in the medal count behind Korea.
Swapnil's first gold medal and third overall at the Baku World Cup. He had previously won silver medals in both the men's 3P individual and team competitions.
Swapnil and Ashi finished fourth out of 31 teams in the first qualification stage earlier in the day, with a combined score of 881 out of 900. The Ukrainian duo finished second and advanced to the top eight stages.
The Indian duo finished second in stage two with a score of 583 out of 600. The score was the same as the Ukrainians, but the Indians won on countback.
Ukraine started the final more substantial, taking a 6-2 lead after the first four single-shot series.
However, the Indian duo fought back admirably, winning six of the next eight series to take a 14-10 lead.
Serhiy and Daria did not give up and cut the deficit to 14-12 before Swapnil and Ashi claimed the well-deserved victory.
The ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup was India's second of the year.
The Indian shooters won the first World Cup staged in Cairo earlier this year, but both the rifle and pistol teams withdrew from the Rio World Cup in April.
In Baku, India was represented by a 12-man rifle squad. The shotgun team also competed in two World Cup stages, earning medals in both.
All three squads will compete in the fourth and final Changwon World Cup stage next month, before the World Championships later this year.
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