Indian shooting ace Saurabh Chaudhary won the gold medal in the men’s 10m air pistol event, opening the country’s account in the year’s first ISSF World Cup here on Tuesday. The Asian Games gold medallist shot 16 in the gold medal contest to finish ahead of Germany’s Michael Schwald (6).

The bronze in the event was bagged by Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Artem Chernousov of Russia, whose country’s flag was removed owing to its involvement in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. Chaudhary, 19, an Olympian who also has a Youth Olympic gold medal to his name, was third in the men’s 10m air pistol qualification stage with a total of 584 points, making it through to the elimination as one of the top eight shooters.