ISSF shooting: Golden start for Indian colts in Changwon Junior World Championship

NEW DELHI: Shubham Bisla and Sainyam, gave the Indian colts a dream start at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship Juniors in Changwon, Korea, winning the Men’s and Women’s 10m Air Pistol competitions respectively.

While it was Shubham’s first gold at the ISSF junior level, Sainyam backed up her win in the Suhl Junior World Cup last month, with an encore in Changwon. India as a result won both gold medals on offer on Day One of competitions and were comfortably leading the medal tally, according to information provided by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Sunday.

Shubham was the first to fire for India when he shot 244.6 in the men’s air pistol final, leaving China’s Bu Shuaihang, who shot 239.6, way behind in silver. Korea’s Kim Kanghyun won bronze with 218.2.

Earlier, Shubham had shot 578 to qualify in second place behind Bu, who topped the qualification charts with a 585. Amit Sharma (576) and Sagar Bhargava (575) also made it to the top eight for India, grabbing the sixth and eighth qualifying spots. Amit finished fifth and Sagar fourth, eventually.

Sainyam was equally in a class of her own in the women’s final, shooting 242.2 to the silver-winning Korean Oh Ye Jin’s 239.4. China’s Yao Qianxun was third with 218.6. Two Indians had made the cut in this final.

Sainyam, who shot 576 in qualification took the fifth qualifying spot, while Urva Chaudhary was sixth with the same score with lesser inner 10s than Sainyam. Urva narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth eventually with a score of 198.1.

Monday will see two more finals, the 10m Air Rifle and Air Pistol Mixed Team, lined up. The all-events Junior World Championships conclude on July 25, 2023.

Lonato Shotgun WC: Trap women miss out

Over at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Lonato, Italy, Indian women missed out on finals qualifying. Shreyasi Singh was the best Indian on show, shooting 111 for a 32nd-place finish while Manisha Keer also shot the same score for a 35th-place finish. Rajeshwari Kumari with 106, was further back in the 52nd spot,

Meanwhile, Prithviraj Tondaiman in the Men’s Trap, remained in contention shooting 97 after the first four rounds of qualification, to be currently placed in sixth spot. The top six make the final cut.