Jr Shooting Worlds: India, China bag gold as race for top spot heats up

New Delhi, July 18

India were locked in a fight for the top position with toppers China on the third day of the ISSF Junior World Championships, in Changwon, South Korea, today.

China has four gold medals, five silver and three bronze, while India has won four gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

China bagged gold in the women’s 10m air rifle team event with a junior world record tally of 1,892 by the trio of Wang Zifei, Fan Xinyi and Zhang Jiale.

India won silver as Gautami Bhanot, Sonam Maskar and Swati Chowdhury tallied 1886.8. Norway won bronze.

Earlier, Parth Mane, Abhinav Shaw and Dhanush Srikanth combined in the men’s 10m air rifle team event to win India’s only gold of the day.

India also picked up a silver medal through Raiza Dhillon in the women’s skeet and a bronze through Umamahesh Maddineni in the men’s 10m air rifle individual competition.

The trio of Parth, Abhinav and Dhanush shot a combined total of 1,886.7, while the Chinese shooters managed a total of 1,883.5. South Korea won bronze.

This was also Abhinav’s second gold of the tournament. He had combined with Gautami on Monday to win the 10m air rifle mixed team competition.

In the men’s 10m air rifle event, Abhinav and Dhanush also made the final top-eight. Abhinav, in fact, topped the 64-strong field with a score of 631.4, while Dhanush was third with a 629.9.

Umamahesh qualified in the seventh position with a score of 627.9 but shot a brilliant final round to claim bronze, ending after the 22nd shot with a tally of 229.0.