Hosts India performed a clean sweep in the women's 10m air rifle podium at the ISSF Junior World Cup in New Delhi, providing more joy for the home crowd.
Ojasvi Thakur excelled in the elimination stage of the final to win the gold medal, finishing with a score of 252.7 compared to her closest opponent and compatriot Hrudya Shri Kondur's 250.2.
Thakur was second ahead of Kondur and behind their other teammate, Shambhavi Shravan Kshirsagar, after the first competition stage. She had overhauled a deficit of 0.8 after the first two elimination shots to take the lead, eventually pulling away. Kshirsagar twice went into the lead, but fell short with a combination of 10.0 and 10.1, falling behind Kondur by 0.1 of a point, who scored 10.7s. Kshirsagar would take the bronze. At this stage, Thakur now had a solid lead of 1.8 and would hold on for the win.
Himanshu gave India the victory in the men's 10m air rifle final, finishing with a total of 250.9. In the early stages, he was in close competition with his teammate Abhinav Shaw and AIN athlete and ISSF World Cup Ningbo silver medallist Dmitrii Pimenov.
All three traded the lead, until Shaw was the first to crack with six shots left in the competition. Two 10.1s saw a gap form to the top two, and a 10.1 and 9.9, sealed his fate for the bronze medal. Himanshu was unable to shake Pimenov until the penultimate series. He scored 10.6 and 10.4 compared to his opponent's 10.3 and 9.8, making a gap of one point between them. With equal scores on their final shots, Himanshu took the title.
Ojasvi Thakur excelled in the elimination stage of the final to win the gold medal, finishing with a score of 252.7 compared to her closest opponent and compatriot Hrudya Shri Kondur's 250.2.
Thakur was second ahead of Kondur and behind their other teammate, Shambhavi Shravan Kshirsagar, after the first competition stage. She had overhauled a deficit of 0.8 after the first two elimination shots to take the lead, eventually pulling away. Kshirsagar twice went into the lead, but fell short with a combination of 10.0 and 10.1, falling behind Kondur by 0.1 of a point, who scored 10.7s. Kshirsagar would take the bronze. At this stage, Thakur now had a solid lead of 1.8 and would hold on for the win.
Himanshu gave India the victory in the men's 10m air rifle final, finishing with a total of 250.9. In the early stages, he was in close competition with his teammate Abhinav Shaw and AIN athlete and ISSF World Cup Ningbo silver medallist Dmitrii Pimenov.
All three traded the lead, until Shaw was the first to crack with six shots left in the competition. Two 10.1s saw a gap form to the top two, and a 10.1 and 9.9, sealed his fate for the bronze medal. Himanshu was unable to shake Pimenov until the penultimate series. He scored 10.6 and 10.4 compared to his opponent's 10.3 and 9.8, making a gap of one point between them. With equal scores on their final shots, Himanshu took the title.
Aleksandr Kovalev took gold in the men's 25m rapid fire eventAn exciting shoot-off saw AIN athlete Aleksandr Kovalev defeat India's Mukesh Nelavalli for the men's 25m rapid fire pistol gold medal.
Kovalev had a difficult start, missing half of his first 10 shots and sat two behind Nelavallli and another home favourite in Suraj Sharma. But then the form came and a clean end to the first competition stage brought him ahead of Nelavalli and one behind Sharma. Sharma would consistently miss important shots in the elimination stage as he dropped behind the front two, with Nelavalli becoming the new leader.
In fact, Nelavalli had a three-shot lead with 10 targets to go. While Sharma ended up adrift with the bronze, Kovalev had not given up on closing the gap. He scored four in his next five to bring the gap down the two. Although he missed two of his final five shots, Nelavalli missed four of them, leaving them tied on 27. In a shoot-off Nelavalli would score one, while Kovalev scored three, completing a superb comeback.
Isha Anil Taksale and Himanshu would also take gold in the 10m air rifle mixed team event, beating their Indian teammates Shambhavi Shravan Kshirsagar and Naraen Pranav Vanitha Suresh 17-15 after a fantastic comeback which saw them win the last four series.
Two teams of AIN athletes contested for the bronze, with Varvara Kardakova and Kamil Nuriakhmetov beating Mariia Kruglova and Timofei Aleinikov 17-9.
Croatia's Toni Gudelj claimed the gold medal in the men's trap final to add to his bronze from Suhl, finishing with a score of 44, pulling away from early leader Isaac Hernandez of Spain who finished on 41. India finished third and fourth, with Vinay Pratap Singh Chandrawat beating Arjun to the bronze.
Czechia's Lea Kucerova took the women's trap title with a total of 41 from 50 targets, for her first ISSF Junior World Cup medal. Italian and world junior bronze medallist Sofia Gori finished on 37 for her second ISSF World Cup silver medal and AIN athlete Kseniia Samofalova won the bronze.
Kovalev had a difficult start, missing half of his first 10 shots and sat two behind Nelavallli and another home favourite in Suraj Sharma. But then the form came and a clean end to the first competition stage brought him ahead of Nelavalli and one behind Sharma. Sharma would consistently miss important shots in the elimination stage as he dropped behind the front two, with Nelavalli becoming the new leader.
In fact, Nelavalli had a three-shot lead with 10 targets to go. While Sharma ended up adrift with the bronze, Kovalev had not given up on closing the gap. He scored four in his next five to bring the gap down the two. Although he missed two of his final five shots, Nelavalli missed four of them, leaving them tied on 27. In a shoot-off Nelavalli would score one, while Kovalev scored three, completing a superb comeback.
Isha Anil Taksale and Himanshu would also take gold in the 10m air rifle mixed team event, beating their Indian teammates Shambhavi Shravan Kshirsagar and Naraen Pranav Vanitha Suresh 17-15 after a fantastic comeback which saw them win the last four series.
Two teams of AIN athletes contested for the bronze, with Varvara Kardakova and Kamil Nuriakhmetov beating Mariia Kruglova and Timofei Aleinikov 17-9.
Croatia's Toni Gudelj claimed the gold medal in the men's trap final to add to his bronze from Suhl, finishing with a score of 44, pulling away from early leader Isaac Hernandez of Spain who finished on 41. India finished third and fourth, with Vinay Pratap Singh Chandrawat beating Arjun to the bronze.
Czechia's Lea Kucerova took the women's trap title with a total of 41 from 50 targets, for her first ISSF Junior World Cup medal. Italian and world junior bronze medallist Sofia Gori finished on 37 for her second ISSF World Cup silver medal and AIN athlete Kseniia Samofalova won the bronze.