Heena Sidhu and Jitu Rai gave the Indian campaign at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final a golden start as they won the 10m air pistol mixed team event in Delhi on Tuesday

Sidhu and Rai shot a total of 483.4 points in the five teams final. France took the silver with 481.1 points while the bronze went to China (418.2).

The Indian pair made a strong comeback as they were at the third spot after the first two series of five shots each. At that point, the French were at pole position followed by the Chinese.

But Heena and Rai picked up their game from the third series and steadily gained ground on their rivals.

Earlier, the Indians struggled at start of the qualification rounds and took time to settle down before entering the final as table toppers. The qualification round comprised four series of 10 shots each, with each shot offering a maximum of 10 points. 

Sidhu started the qualification round with a series of 94/100. She scored 96, 95 and 97 in the next three series to register a total of 382 points. 

Rai scored 97, 96, 95 and 97 for a total of 385 points.

This the first time the mixed team events are being held officially at an ISSF World Cup.

The mixed team events were organised as test events at the World Cups held earlier this year and are scheduled to be included for the first time at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.