Indian shooters led the medal standings on the opening day of the 3rd ISSF Junior World Cup being held at Suhl, Germany.
India won four medals on Sunday but the most impressive performance of the day was by Rituraj Singh who won the gold in Junior Men’s 25m Standard Pistol.
The 19-year-old Air Force shooter shot 569 (192,190,187) to finish on top of the podium with a clear margin of 8 points.
Rituraj had won a silver in the same event at Suhl last year with a score of 559.
There was a shoot-off for the silver as Clement Greffier of France and Australia’s Sergei Evglevski both ended on a score of 561. In the shoot-off, Clement beat Sergei 48:44 to claim the silver.
India also won a gold in the team event with a score of 1661 (Rituraj 569, Shivam Shukla 550, Arjun Das 542), France won the silver with a score of 1659 while Australia won the bronze 1648.
In the Women’s 50m Rifle Prone, India’s Gaayathri Nithyanadam won the bronze with a score of 618.4 (104.0,102.9,104.6,101.9,103.1,101.9), the gold was won by Polands’ Natalia Kochanska with a score of 620.6 while Emilie Wintenberger of France won the silver with a score of 619.5.
The Indian team comprising of Gaayathri (618.4), Sonika (616.9) and Ayushi Poddar (611.3) registered a combined total of 1846.6 to claim the team gold, France won the silver with a score of 1841.7 while Poland settled for the bronze with a score of 1836.3.
The Results:
Junior Men’s 25m Standard Pistol:
1. Rituraj Singh (569), 2. Clement Greffier (FRA) 561+48, 3. Sergei Evglevski (AUS) 561+44, 5. Sambhaji Zanzan Patil 556, 8. Shivam Shukla 550, 14. Arjun Das 542 (9x), 16. Aadeithyaa Joahal 542 (5x).
Junior Women’s 50m Rifle Prone:
1. Natalia Kochanska (POL) 620.6, 2. Emilie Wintenberger (FRA) 619.5, 3. Gaayathri Nithyanadam (618.4), 4. Sonika (616.9), 14. Deep Chahat Kaur 612.2, 16. Ayushi Poddar 611.3, 26. Aditi Singh 606.3, 43. Namrata Arora 594.2
