Indian shooters topped the medals tally at the ISSF Junior World Championship with seven gold, finishing the campaign in style with outstanding performances in the pistol and rifle events despite drawing a blank in shotgun.

India finished with 24 medals, including seven gold, eight silver and nine bronze, to top the standings ahead of the Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), who claimed 14 medals, including six gold, while powerhouse Italy finished third with 10 medals, including six gold.

India’s campaign got off to a flying start as Sejal Kamble won the women’s 10m air pistol gold, while Himanshi claimed bronze. A third Indian, Vanshika Chaudhary, suffered a bizarre heartbreak after failing to fire her final shot while in contention for gold and a possible junior world record, apparently due to confusion during the closing moments of the final. That would have given India a rare clean sweep of the podium.

The trio of Sejal, Vanshika and Navya Bishnoi then claimed gold in the team event to give India an early lead in the championship. India continued to remain on course as Sameer won gold in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event and Rohit Kanyan emerged victorious in the men’s 50m rifle 3-positions competition.

Prachi Gaikwad added a silver in the women’s 50m rifle 3-positions event, while India picked up bronze medals in the men’s 50m rifle 3-positions team and men’s 25m rapid fire pistol team events. India’s medal surge continued with Anvii Rathod claiming bronze in the women’s 10m air rifle before Pritam Kendre struck gold in the men’s 10m air rifle.

However, India also endured disappointment in the women’s 10m air rifle team event, where Shambhavi Shravan Kshirsagar was disqualified for violating the International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) apparel stiffness regulations. The rule governs the stiffness and flexibility of shooting jackets and trousers, and failure to clear the mandatory equipment test results in immediate disqualification.

India’s final medal tally could have been even more impressive had Vanshika not missed her final shot while in contention for gold and a possible junior world record, and had Shambhavi not been disqualified.

India also claimed bronze in the men’s and women’s 25m pistol team events. In the men’s 10m air pistol, Shiva Narwal won silver while Yug Pratap Singh Rathore took bronze to complete a double podium finish for the country.

Narwal then teamed up with Sandeep Bishnoi and Chirag Sharma to secure silver in the men’s team event before partnering Vanshika Chaudhary for another silver in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition. Despite their dominance in rifle and pistol, India’s long-standing struggles in shotgun persisted.

The country failed to win a single medal in the men’s and women’s trap, skeet and mixed team events, exposing a glaring weakness that is likely to concern the National Rifle Association of India ahead of future international competitions.

The men’s trap and skeet shooters endured a particularly disappointing campaign with none progressing to the eight-shooter finals and the teams finishing well down the standings.

In the women’s events, Bhavya Tripathi reached the trap final but finished eighth, while Rishan Guron was placed seventh after qualifying for the skeet final. India also failed to qualify for the trap mixed team final.

Also read: 10m air pistol Jr World C’ship: Vanshika, Shiva win silver