(source : ANI) ( Photo Credit : ani)
India’s young shooters lit up the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range on Monday, dominating the ISSF Junior World Cup 2025 in New Delhi. In a highlight of the event, the women’s 10m air rifle junior final saw an all-Indian podium sweep, boosting the host nation’s medal tally early in the competition.
Ojasvi Thakur claimed gold with a strong 252.7 score, nailing two perfect 10.9 shots on her 8th and 16th attempts to edge out the field. Her teammate Hrudya Shri Kondur grabbed silver at 250.2, while qualification leader Shambhavi S Kshirsagar rounded out the top three with 229.4 for bronze. The trio had set the tone in qualifications, taking the top spots with scores of 632.0 for Shambhavi, 631.9 for Ojasvi, and 629.8 for Hrudya.
Croatia’s Anamarija Turk came closest to challenging them, finishing fourth at 206.6 after qualifying eighth. Other finalists included Lidiia Vasileva of the Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) at 184.5, Russia’s Varvara Kardakova at 164.2, Mariia Kruglova at 142.8, and Slovakia’s Kamila Novotna at 122.1.
The men’s 10m air rifle junior final brought more glory for India. Himanshu, who topped qualifications with 633.7, stayed sharp to win gold with 250.9. AIN’s Dmitrii Pimenov took silver at 249.9, and India’s Abhinav Shaw earned bronze with 228.4.
Naraen Pranav Vanitha Suresh placed fifth for India at 187.0, while AIN’s Kamil Nuriakhmetov was fourth at 208.3. Sergei Novoselov (AIN) finished sixth at 165.9, followed by Croatia’s Darko Tomasevic at 144.8 and Oman’s Khalid Mohammed Ali Khalaf Al Kalbani at 123.5.
Excitement peaked in the 25m rapid fire pistol men junior final, where AIN’s Aleksandr Kovalev snatched gold from India’s Mukesh Nelavalli in a tense shoot-off. Both tied at 27 hits in regulation, but Kovalev won 3-1 in the decider. Mukesh, who qualified third with 571-20x, settled for silver.
India still celebrated a strong showing with Suraj Sharma taking bronze after leading qualifications (577-15x) and scoring 21 hits. Sameer finished fourth at 15 hits, ahead of Great Britain’s Toby Aberdeen (10 hits) and AIN’s Georgii Tarasov (7 hits).
In the trap junior qualifications on Day 1, the field stayed competitive over 75 targets. For women, AIN’s Kseniia Samofalova, India’s Addya Katyal, and Italy’s Sofia Gori led with 70 hits each. USA’s Lucy Myers followed at 69, and four shooters, including India’s Tanisska Senthil Kumar, tied at 68.
The men’s trap saw Croatia’s Toni Gudelj and Spain’s Daniel Fernandez de Vicente out front with 73 hits, with seven others at 72. Day 2 qualifications for both trap events continue Tuesday, September 30, 2025, adding 50 targets from 9 a.m., leading to afternoon medal finals.
Other Indian shooters made their mark across events. In 10m air rifle men junior qualifications, Mohammed Vania scored 627.1 (6th) and Piyush Sharma hit 626.0 (7th). For women, Anvii Rathod got 628.3 (7th) and Isha Anil Taksale scored 625.3 (10th).
In 25m rapid fire pistol men junior Stage 2, Abhinav Chaudalry tallied 569-21x (5th) and Jatin notched 566-14x (6th).
For trap men junior Day 1, Arya Vansh Tyagi led Indians at 71 (10th), with Vinay Pratap Singh Chandrawat, Udhav Singh Rathore, and Arjun all at 70 (14th-16th). Aman Chauhan scored 62 (35th).
In trap women, Addya Katyal hit 70 (2nd), Tanisska Senthil Kumar 68 (8th), Sabeera Haris 67 (9th), Shreshtha Sisodiya 63 (17th), and Bhavya Tripathi 58 (18th).
Looking ahead to Day 6 on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, action ramps up with three medal events. The 10m air rifle mixed team junior final starts at 11 a.m. IST, after qualifications from 9:30 a.m. Trap women junior final follows at 2:30 p.m., and trap men at 4 p.m.
Pistol events kick off too, with 25m pistol precision stage for junior men and women from 9:15 a.m. IST. Fans can catch all the live shooting updates from the ISSF Junior World Cup 2025 in New Delhi.
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