New Delhi: Rudrankksh Patil and Arjun Babuta on Friday secured gold and silver in the 10m Air Rifle, respectively, helping India continue its medal spree at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship in New Delhi. In the Junior Men’s air rifle final, Himanshu Dhillon, Ansh Dabas, and Naren Pranav V.S swept all podium spots, further asserting India’s dominance, according to olympics.com.
The day began with victories in mixed team events. Mukesh Nelavalli and Vanshika Chaudhary won gold in the 10m Air Pistol junior mixed team event. Girish Gupta and Shiksha Saran secured gold in the youth mixed team event, starting India’s medal collection for the day.
In the 10m Air Rifle Men’s final, Rudrankksh and Arjun started cautiously, initially placing outside the top ranks. Rudrankksh gained momentum from the second series and took the lead on the 16th shot. He maintained it till the end, scoring 251.9 points to win his first Asian Championship medal. Arjun closely followed with 250.7 points to claim silver. Japan’s Naoya Okada, who led until the 16th shot, finished with bronze at 229.3 points.
Vishal Singh, the other Indian finalist, placed fifth individually. However, he, along with Rudrankksh and Arjun, secured the team gold with a combined score of 1884.7. Kazakhstan and Japan won team silver and bronze, respectively.
In the Junior Men’s final, senior and junior national record-holder Dhillon led from start to finish to win gold. Ansh Dabas improved after the second series to claim silver. Naren Pranav scored a crucial 10.8s towards his final shots to clinch bronze, completing a podium sweep for India. Himanshu, Naren, and Abhinav Shaw also won the team gold with a total of 1887.8 points.
In the Youth category, Bhanu Pratap Singh Choudhary added a silver with a score of 247.2. Indonesia’s Pramudio Mudiono won gold, while his teammate Anang Febrian took bronze. Bhanu Pratap, along with Anshul Batra and Yash Pandey, secured India the team gold, with Kazakhstan and the Maldives finishing second and third in the team event.
In the junior mixed team air pistol event, Mukesh Nelavalli and Vanshika Chaudhary trailed the Indonesian pair for much of the finals. Their consistent shooting earned them gold with 481.1 points, 4.2 ahead of the Indonesians. Kazakhstan’s Assylym Zhakiya and Tamerlan Yerdembek took bronze.
In the youth mixed team finals, Shiksha Saran and Girish Gupta dominated to win gold. Tajikistan’s Shirinbibi Rajabova and Khaydarali Sattorov claimed silver, and Kazakhstan’s Shakizada Mazova and Matvey Tikhonov earned bronze.