Deswal bags gold, equals world record

Chandigarh, June 25 

Pistol shooter Yashaswini Singh Deswal was in the zone today as she equalled the world record on her way to clinching the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event in the ISSF Junior World Championship in Suhl, Germany.

Yashaswini was a cut above the rest today, shooting with unmatched consistency throughout the day. After topping the qualifying round two points ahead of her closest rival, she overcame a slow start to win the eight-woman final.

The 20-year-old, who is a student of DAV College, Sector 10, ended with a world record equalling finals score of 235.9. Yashaswini’s dominance could be gauged by the gap between her and the silver medallist.

Woori Kim of Korea shot a score of 231.8 to come second, with Giulia Campostrini (212.1) finishing third. 

Yashaswini’s gold helped India consolidate their second position in the medals tally at the end of Day 2. India now have two gold, one silver and one bronze. China top the standings till now. Yashaswini's fifth shot in the final was 7.8, which put her in third position after the first five shots. She moved down to fifth in the second series of five shots. However, she made a great recovery to take the lead after the 13th shot, after which, she didn’t look back. This is Yashaswini's ninth final at the youth and junior level over the past three years and her first gold. Last year, she had won the silver at the Junior World Cup stage in the same event and at the same venue.

A daughter of a police officer, Yashaswini took up shooting in 2011. She won a gold medal in the team championship at the Asian Shooting Championship and bagged the individual silver.

She was awarded with the most impressive shooter title after she bagged two silver medals, in the individual and team sections of the 10m air pistol event, at the 2016 ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl. —TNS