Arjun bags gold in 10m air-rifle

CHANGWON (KOREA): Young India shooter Arjun Babuta stunned Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Lucas Kozeniesky to win the men’s 10m air-rifle event on Monday and open the country’s account at the ongoing ISSF World Cup here. In the gold-medal clash, Arjun humbled USA’s Kozeniesky 17-9 in a rather one-sided contest. Having bagged the yellow metal at the Junior World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan, in 2016, Arjun clinched his maiden gold at the senior WC level. The 23-year-old, who hails from Punjab, had topped the ranking round with a scintillating 261.1 points and qualified for the gold-medal clash. Kozeniesky had shot 260.4 to join him even as qualification leader Sergey Richter of Israel settled for bronze with a score of 259.9. India’s Parth Makhija, who qualified for the ranking round in fifth place, finished fourth with a score of 258.1.