Cairo, April 21: Leading Indian shooter Shiva Narwal marked his return to the global stage after a long hiatus by clinching gold in the men’s 10m air pistol event at the ISSF Junior World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) while Chirag Sharma added to the tally by securing bronze in the same event, here on Tuesday.
In addition to the double podium on the opening day, Panaah Bhugra fetched the silver in the women’s 10m air rifle, taking India’s tally to three medals across all colours.
Narwal continued his form from the qualification to claim gold with a score of 241.8, finishing 1.8 ahead of Uzbekistan’s Sodikjon Abdullaev, who secured silver. Chirag completed the podium with 218.9, while Abhinav Deshwal, the third Indian in the final, finished seventh with 136.7.
In qualification, Narwal qualified in top spot with a score of 576, followed by Abhinav in third place with a score of 576 and Chirag who qualified in fourth place, shooting 575.
In the junior women’s 10m air rifle event, Panaah Bhugra, who qualified for the finals with a score of 629.4, maintained her place in the medal positions from the first series and showcased consistency to eventually clinch the silver medal with a final score of 250.6.
The French duo of Anceline Brackman and Helena Ecale secured gold and bronze with scores of 252.0 and 228.6 respectively.
Shambhavi Kshirsagar, who finished qualification in top spot with a score of 634.0, finished fourth with a score of 206.5. The third Indian in the final, Anvii Rathod finished sixth with a score of 164.6.
Anvii qualified for the finals in sixth place with a score of 628.6, while the other Indians in the competition, Manyata Singh scored 628.3 to finish in eighth place.
With the rule of a maximum of three athletes per country, the three top ranked after qualification round proceeded to the final with Manyata missing out. (PTI)
