India bagged double podium finish in 10M air rifle mixed team event at Junior Shooting WC

India bagged a silver and bronze in the 10M air rifle mixed team event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, on Sunday

New Delhi: India bagged a silver and bronze in the 10M air rifle mixed team event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, on Sunday.

It was India’s second double podium finish in the tournament in two days.

Naraen Pranav and Khyaty Chaudhary won silver while Himanshu and Shambhavi Kshirsagar clinched bronze, as India’s medals tally reached double figures (two gold, four silver, four bronze) with two more finals coming up on the final day on Monday.

The pair of Khyaty and Naraen shot 631.0 in the 38-team qualifying round to finish second and earn a shot at gold against the crack Chinese pair of Huang Yuting (Olympic champion in the event, double Olympic medalist and senior air rifle world champion) and Huang Liwanlin (the junior air rifle world champion), who topped the field with a combined 632.6.

The Indians fought valiantly in the final, levelling things back every time the Chinese threatened to pull away and did so right till the end over 14 series of single shots, going into the 15th series tied honourably at 14 points apiece.

The Chinese won the 15th by 0.5 to get to 16 points first and take gold.

Himanshu and Shambhavi, who had finished fourth in qualifying with 629.5 to make the bronze medal match, were down 1-7 at one stage against the American pair of Griffin Lake and Elijah Spencer.

With a medal threatening to slip away, they responded with ferocity to go 13-7 up. The Americans could win just one more series as the Indians sealed it 17-9 to win comfortably in the end.

Shambhavi and Ojasvi Thakur finished 1-2 in the women’s air rifle on Saturday, to give India their first double podium finish in the tournament.

The trap finals were also slated for later in the day, however, no Indian will be featuring in the event. The women had already finished outside the top six cut, while the men were also far below the cut line.