India are place fourth in the overall medals' tally with seven gold, eight silver and seven bronze in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championships at Changwon, Korea on day 9. India’s junior shooters scaled another high by delivering the country’s first set of skeet medals - a men’s team silver and an individual bronze by Gurnihal Singh Garcha. Before this edition of the world championship, India had won all its shotgun medals in the trap and double trap disciplines. This will be the first time that Indian skeet shooters will come back with medals from the premiere competition.
The trio of Gurnihal (119), Anantjeet Singh Naruka (117) and Ayush Rudraraju (119) combined for a score of 355 for a second-place finish in the finals. The three had topped day one of the team qualifying on Monday. The 19-year-old Gurnihal also made the six-strong individual final, where he shot a score of 46 to claim the individual bronze, the biggest achievement of his international career so far. India have secured two Olympic quotas, making it the country’s best performance ever at the World Championship. Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela secured quota places for the Olympics by winning a silver and finishing fourth respectively in the women’s 10m air rifle event. Though the two shooters have secured quotas, as per the policy, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will take the final call on selection, based on the aggregate scores of shooters (in international tournaments and selection trials) leading up to the Olympic Games.
Ankur Mittal wins double trap gold
Ankur Mittal claimed the men’s double trap gold medal for his career’s biggest triumph. The multiple World Cup medalist shot 140 out of 150 to go into a shoot-off for gold with China’s Yiyang Yang and Slovakia’s Hubert Andrzej. The 26-year-old overcame the Chinese 4-3 to emerge triumphant after the Slovakian had missed his second shoot-off clay target to settle for bronze. Ankur also won the team bronze in the event along with compatriots Md. Asab and Shardul Vihaan, their tally of 409 points putting them behind China’s 410 and the gold winning team Italy’s tally of 411.
Young Hriday wins hearts
After 16-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary’s gold in junior men’s 10m air pistol, it was the turn of Hriday Hazarika, also 16, to strike gold – in the junior men’s 10m air rifle. In junior women’s 10m air rifle event, India’s Elavenil Valarivan won silver, while Shreya Agarwal bagged bronze. The junior women’s team comprising Elavenil, Shreya and Manini Kaushik totalled 1880.7 to create a new junior world record and win gold.
Saurabh Chaudhary creates record
Asian Games gold medalist Saurabh Chaudhary broke the junior world record to bag the 10m Air Pistol Junior Men gold. The 16-year-old qualified for the finals in the third position with a score of 581. In the the final series of shots, which would have decided the gold medalist, Saurabh went with an over 3 point lead against Korea’s Hojin Lim. Despite missing a 10 on his final shot he comfortably overtook the junior world record with a total score of 245.5. India’s Arjun Singh Cheema clinched the bronze with a score of 218 after qualifying for the final in sixth place with score of 577.
Mitharwal strikes gold
Indian shooter Om Prakash Mitharwal picked up his maiden gold medal, claiming the top honours in the 50m pistol event. The 23-year-old, a bronze-winner in the 10m air pistol and the 50m pistol events of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast earlier this year, shot a score of 564 to finish on top. In the junior competition, the duo of Asian Games gold-medallist Saurabh Chanudhary and Abhidnya Patil brought India the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze.
