Jr World Cup Shooting: Jonathan Gavin Antony powers to dominant gold as Rashmika clinches silver
India’s teenage sensation Jonathan Gavin Antony grabbed the gold in the men’s 10m air pistol at the ISSF Junior World Cup in New Delhi, turning heads with a near-perfect show on day two of the event. The 16-year-old from India topped the qualification round with a score of 586-19x and kept the momentum going in the finals, nailing 21 out of 24 shots in the 10s to win by a solid 8.5-point lead.
Italy’s Luca Arrighi earned silver with 236.3 points after qualifying at 572-21x, while Spain’s Lucas Sanchez Tome snagged bronze at 215.1 from a 573-11x start. The final even saw the tournament’s first shoot-off, where Iran’s Hosein Gohari outshot Italy’s Gabriele Aldo Villani for sixth place after tying at 156.8. Gohari then finished fifth with 174.8 (572-12x). Individual Neutral Athlete Vladislav Makarov took fourth at 194.3, and Russia’s Igor Tupitsyn ended seventh with 134.9. Another Indian, Chirag Sharma, who started strong in second with 578-15x, wrapped up eighth at 115.6.
Over in the junior women’s 10m air pistol final, Individual Neutral Athlete Evelina Shiena stayed cool under pressure and led wire-to-wire to claim gold with an impressive 240.9. India’s Rashmika Sahgal, fifth in qualification at 573-17x, put up a strong fight but settled for silver at 236.1—just 4.8 points behind. Iran’s Fatemah Shekari, starting eighth with 567-14x, surged to bronze with 213.8.
Other Indian shooters in the women’s final included Vanshika Chaudhary, who led qualification with 576-17x but finished fifth after 18 shots at 174.2. Mohini Singh, second in quals at 576-12x, came in sixth with 153.2.
The skeet events kicked off with qualification rounds on day two, and India’s Harmehar Singh Lally, a silver medalist at the Asian Championships, topped the men’s field with 74 out of 75 targets hit. Close behind were Cyprus’s Andreas Pontikis, Finland’s Lassi Akseli Matias, and Italy’s Marco Coco, all at 73 hits. India’s Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodiya and Atul Singh, plus Czechia’s Alex Petrasek, trail with 72 each.
In junior women’s skeet, India’s reigning Asian champion Mansi Raghuwanshi led after day one with 71 hits out of 75. The USA’s Chloe Chaleunsinh followed at 69, and Italy’s Arianna Nember, a World Championship silver medalist, hit 68. Individual Neutral Athletes Varvara Zaitseva and Kseniia Shuliak tied with India’s Agrima Kanwar at 67. Olympian Raiza Dhillon and Yashasvi Rathore both scored 65 to share seventh.
Skeet qualification continues Saturday morning with 50 more targets, sending the top six in men’s and women’s categories to the finals that afternoon.
Day three of the ISSF Junior World Cup on September 27 brings more action: the 10m air pistol mixed team final at 11:00 AM, followed by men’s skeet at 1:30 PM and women’s skeet at 3:00 PM. Shooting fans in New Delhi at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range have plenty to cheer for as young talents from around the world compete.
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