Hriday, women junior team win gold in world shooting

CHANGWON (SOUTH KOREA: There was no stopping the golden run of India’s junior shooters with Hriday Hazarika claiming the 10m air rifle top honours before the women’s team combined for a new world record and gold at the ISSF World Championships here on Friday.

Elavenil Valarivan also won the individual silver in women’s 10m air rifle, going down narrowly to China’s double senior World Cup gold-medallist Shi Mengyao, in the final.

Elavenil shot 249.8 to Shi’s 250.5. The 17-year old Shreya Agrawal won the bronze with an effort of 228.4 in the final.

Four podium finishes on the sixth day of competition took India’s tally to 18, their best-ever showing in the International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) premier tournament.

Hazarika, who qualified with a score of 627.3, was tied with Iran’s Mohammed Amir Nekounam on 250.1 once the field was pruned to the regulation top eight. But the 17-year-old Indian clinched the yellow metal after prevailing in a shoot-off.

In the women’s 10m air rifle, the team of Elavenil (631), Shreya Agarwal (628.5) and Manini Kaushik (621.2) then produced a sensational performance to total 1880.7 for a gold with a world record to boot.

The score by Elavenil, a junior world cup gold-medallist, was also a new junior world record.

The men’s team, comprising Hazarika, Divyansh Panwar and Arjun Babuta, finished fourth with a combined total of 1872.3.

There was disappointment for the country in the senior men’s 50m rifle three position competition as none of the Indians in fray managed to make the cut for the finals. Asian Games silver-medallist Sanjeev Rajput was the lowest placed Indian at 58th.

In women’s 25m pistol, Manu Bhaker was the best-placed Indian after the first precision stage of qualification, shooting an impressive 294 out of 300 to be among the joint top four scores.

Rahi Sarnobat was lying 27th while Heena Sidhu 61st.