India's Malayali shooter Sidhartha Babu put behind the disappointment from the Paralympic Games held last September to finish on the podium in the Para Shooting World Cup in Changwon, Korea.
Sidhartha bagged the bronze medal for India in the 10m air rifle prone event. Jean-Louis Michaud of France and Jinho Park of Korea finished first and second respectively in the event.
The Keralite, who competes on his self-designed wheelchair that he calls Rosinante, was ahead in the competition till the 20th of the total 24 shots.
Despite a minor slip-up, he managed to hold his nerves and secured a podium finish, his first at the ongoing world cup. Last year, he won a bronze in the World Cup held in Al Ain.
Sidhartha, who had failed to impress in the Tokyo Paralympics by finishing 40th in the 10m event before missing the cut in 50m by a whisker, has lived up to the expectations with a fine performance in the South Korean city.
The small bore shooting champion of Kerala will be competing in the 50m rifle-prone event on August 22.
His team has confirmed that after the World Cup, Sidhartha would be preparing for a quota place in the 2024 Paris Paralympics at the Al Ain World Championship in November.
