Indian shooters win five medals on opening day of Junior World Cup

Deependra Shekhawat, champion Kamil Nuriakhmetov and Rohit Kanyan, the junior men’s prone medallists in the Junior World Cup in Delhi on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
Kamesh Srinivasan

Anushka Thokur gave a golden start for the host as India swept five of the six medals in 50-metre rifle prone event on the opening day of the Junior World Cup at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Thursday.

The fact that the missed medal was the junior men’s prone gold, won by Kamil Nuriakhmetov, an Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN), meant that there could be a strong challenge from the 40-member visiting contingent.

Yet, it has to be conceded that Anushka shot 621.6, which was a better score than what all the junior men accomplished in a small field, in the non-Olympic event that does not feature a final.

It was a sweep of junior women’s prone medals as Anushka was followed by Anshika and Aadhya Agrawal on the podium.

In junior men’s prone, Nuriakhmetov beat Deependra Shekhawat by one point to the gold, with a score of 618.9. Rohit Kanyan won the bronze on the count back after being tied on 616.3 with Sergei Novoselov of AIN.

After having finished sixth in prone in the last Junior World Cup in Suhl, the gold was welcome for Anushka, even though the score was nothing to crow about. To her credit, Anushka had won the more challenging rifle 3-position junior gold in the recent Asian championship in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

It will be air pistol competition on Friday and the Olympic event could witness a more dynamic tussle for the medals.

The results: 50m rifle prone: Men: 1. Kaml Nuriakhmetov (AIN) 618.9, 2. Deependra Shekhawat 617.9, 3. Rohit Kanyan 616.3; 5. Vedant Waghmare 615.6; 8. Kushagra Rajawat 611.6; 11. Kunal Sharma 590.9.

Women: 1. Anushka Thokur 621.6, 2. Anshika 619.2, 3. Aadhya Agrawal 615.9; 8. Saniya Sapale 610.9; 9. Nirmat Kaur Brar 604.3.