New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) India pulled off a 1-2 in the 10m air pistol mixed team junior event, as Italy celebrated a golden double in the skeet competitions, as competition Day 3 of the ISSF Junior World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun New Delhi concluded here at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range with the hosts still on top of the medal tally.

Kapil and Rashmika Sahgal put down compatriots Jonathan Gavin Antony and Vanshika Chaudhary 16-10 in the 10m air pistol mixed team gold medal clash to give India their third gold of the competition. Later, Italians Marco Coco and Arianna Nember claimed top honours in the junior men’s and women’s skeet finals, respectively.

India presently has three gold, five silver, and three bronze medals to show for their efforts.

On Saturday morning, both the Indian teams had dominated the qualification, with Rashmika–Kapil topping at 582-15x and Vanshika–Gavin following at 578-20x. Also in the mixed team pistol, Spain’s Ines Castro Ortega and Lucas Sanchez Tome secured bronze with a narrow 16-14 win over Iran’s Parimah Amiri and Mohammadreza Ahmadi in mixed air.

Italy’s charge in skeet competitions was led by Marco Coco, who carried his qualification form (122) into the junior men’s final, shooting 56 hits from 60 targets to win gold. Finland’s Lassi Akseli Matias Kauppinen claimed silver with 53 hits, while Cyprus’s Andreas Pontikis took bronze with 43.

India’s Harmehar Singh Lally (35 hits) and Atul Singh Rajawat (25 hits) were eliminated in fourth and fifth place, respectively, while the Netherlands’ Ryan Kooijman finished sixth with 14.

The women’s skeet final saw World Championship silver medalist Arianna Nember of Italy produce a stellar display, hitting 53 targets to secure gold. India’s Olympian Raiza Dhillon pushed her close with 51 for silver, while reigning Asian champion Mansi Raghuwanshi added bronze with 41, having earlier topped qualification with 117.

USA’s 14-year-old Chloe Chaleunsinh finished fourth with 32, Individual Neutral Athlete Kseniia Shuliak was fifth with 22, and India’s Agrima Kanwar completed the final line-up with 13.

Other Indians in action:

Skeet Junior Men Qualification

Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodiya – 116 (13th)

Yashvardhan Singh Rajawat – 113 (18th)

Ishaan Singh Libra – 109 (26th)

Skeet Junior Women Qualification

Yashasvi Rathore – 107 (9th)

Shivani Raikwar – 105 (12th)

Fixtures: Competition Day 4

On Sunday, September 28, two finals are scheduled in the 50m rifle 3 positions event. The women’s final will take place at 12:00 PM IST, followed by the men’s final at 2:00 PM IST, with qualifications starting at 9:30 AM.

Pistol shooters will also be in action on Sunday morning with Stage 1 qualification of the junior men’s 25m rapid fire pistol beginning at 9:15 AM.

–IANS

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