Indian shooters made a strong start at the ISSF Junior World Championship in Peru, winning gold medals in the men’s and women’s 10m air pistol team categories. However, a potential gold medal in the individual category slipped away as a result of a penalty imposed on an Indian marksman for being late to the final.
In the men’s team competition, Umesh Choudhary, Pradhyumn Singh, and Mukesh Nelavalli scored 1726 points to take first place, 10 points ahead of Romania. Italy won the bronze medal with a total of 1707 points. Despite the team’s win, Choudhary missed an opportunity for individual gold after being penalised two points for tardiness in the final.
Choudhary and Singh had previously qualified for the individual finals, finishing third and fourth, respectively, with scores of 580 and 578. Unfortunately, both failed to make the podium, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively. Romania’s Luca Joldea won the individual gold medal, with Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Hsiang-Chen taking silver.
In the women’s event, the Indian trio of Kanishka Dagar, Lakshita, and Anjali Chaudhary won gold with a score of 1708, defeating Azerbaijan by one point.
