New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) India’s 16-year-old Jonathan Gavin Antony stole the spotlight on Day 2 of the ISSF Junior World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun New Delhi 2025 at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range here, delivering a flawless performance to win the men’s 10m air pistol title.

The young Indian, who had topped qualification with 586-19x, carried his form into the finals, shooting 21 of 24 shots in the 10s to secure gold with a commanding margin of 8.5 points.

Italy’s Luca Arrighi took silver with 236.3 (572-21x), while Spain’s Lucas Sanchez Tome claimed bronze on 215.1 (573 – 11x). The final also witnessed the tournament’s first shoot-off, where Iran’s Hosein Gohari edged past Italy’s Gabriele Aldo Villani for sixth place, after both were tied on 156.8.

The Iranian went on to finish fifth with 174.8 (572-12x). Individual Neutral Athlete Vladislav Makarov (194.3) and Igor Tupitsyn (134.9) finished fourth and seventh, respectively. India’s Chirag Sharma, who had entered the finals second with 578-15x, finished eighth with 115.6, to complete the final line-up.

In the junior women’s 10m air pistol final, Individual Neutral Athlete Evelina Shiena delivered a composed performance, leading from start to finish to secure gold with 240.9. India’s Rashmika Sahgal, who had qualified fifth with 573-17x, battled hard but fell short, taking silver with 236.1, 4.8 points behind Evelina. Iran’s Fatemah Shekari, who had qualified eighth with 567-14x, rose to the occasion to secure bronze with 213.8.

Among the other Indian finalists, Vanshika Chaudhary, who had topped qualification with 576-17x, finished fifth after 18 shots with 174.2, while Mohini Singh, the second-best qualifier with 576-12x, placed sixth with 153.2.

The skeet competition also began with qualification rounds on Day 2. Asian Championship silver medallist Harmehar Singh Lally led the men’s field with an impressive 74 hits out of 75. He was closely followed by Cyprus’s Andreas Pontikis, Finland’s Lassi Akseli Matias, and Italy’s Marco Coco, all with 73 hits. India’s Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodiya and Atul Singh, along with Czechia’s Alex Petrasek, are in the chasing pack with 72 hits each.

In the junior women’s skeet, reigning Asian champion Mansi Raghuwanshi topped qualification day 1 with 71 hits from 75 targets. She was followed by the USA’s Chloe Chaleunsinh with 69 and Italy’s World Championship silver medallist Arianna Nember with 68. Individual Neutral Athletes’ Varvara Zaitseva and Kseniia Shuliak, along with India’s Agrima Kanwar, are tied on 67. Olympian Raiza Dhillon is seventh with 65, alongside Yashasvi Rathore, also on 65.

Skeet Qualification Day 2 will be held on Saturday morning with 50 more targets, after which the top six athletes in both men’s and women’s categories will progress to Saturday’s finals.

Day 3 of the competition on Saturday (Sep 27) will feature three finals — the 10m air pistol mixed team final at 11:00 AM, followed by the skeet men’s and women’s finals at 1:30 PM and 3:00 PM, respectively.

–IANS

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