Indian teens shine in shooting finals

India’s young shooters continued their stellar run at the ISSF Junior World Cup at the Dr Karni Singh Ranges on Sunday, with Anushka Thokur clinching her second gold of the tournament and Adriyan Karmakar adding a silver in the men’s 50m rifle 3-positions event.

Anushka, 18, who had recently returned from the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan with a gold, dominated the women’s 50m rifle 3-positions, firing a total of 461.0 in the final. Her perfect 10.9 on the 35th standing-position shot helped her secure victory by a comfortable margin of 6.1 points over Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) Anastasiia Sorokina, who took silver with 454.9. Mariia Kruglova claimed bronze with 444.0, narrowly ahead of Anastasiia Gorokhova (434.3). Anushka had earlier topped the qualification round with 585, adding to her gold in the women’s 50m rifle prone event earlier in the week.

The teenager’s triumph pushed India’s overall medal tally at the Junior World Cup to 13, including four gold, six silver, and three bronze, keeping the nation at the top of the standings. Individual Neutral Athletes rank second with three gold, one silver, and two bronze, followed by Italy with two gold and a silver.

In the junior men’s 50m rifle 3-positions, Adriyan Karmakar won silver in a small field of just 12 shooters. He scored 454.8 in the final after topping qualifications with 587. Dmitrii Pimenov (AIN) claimed gold with 459.9, while Kamil Nuriakhmetov (AIN) took bronze with 441.0. India’s Mahit Sandhu finished fifth with 422.7, highlighting the dominance of Indian shooters despite the limited competition.

The 25m rapid fire pistol junior qualification also saw Indian shooters performing strongly in a similarly depleted field of eight athletes. Suraj Sharma tied for the lead with AIN Aleksandr Kovalev on 287, followed closely by Sameer Gulia (286), Abhinav Choudhary (284), Mukesh Nelavalli (283), and Jatin (282). Only the top three from each country will advance to the final, setting the stage for intense battles.

While the reduced number of participants has slightly dimmed the competitive shine compared to previous editions, India’s young shooters have clearly seized the moment, demonstrating depth, skill, and consistency on home soil.