Bhopal, Jun 24 (Shooting News) Pistol ace Manu Bhaker shot a double gold, claiming both the women's and junior women's 10m air pistol titles at the 20th Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting event here on Friday.

The 20-year-old from Haryana shot 263.9 to outclass her opponents in the eight-women semi-final event.

Compatriot Arshdeep Kaur had a neck-and-neck fight with Manu and even followed her to the gold medal contest.

However, Manu, a former world number one, outshot Kaur 16-14 in a closely fought final contest.

Kaur finished second with a score of 260.5 to bag the silver medal, while Haryana's Radhika Tanwar won the bronze.

In the junior women's event, Manu was once again in a league of her own as she claimed the top position with a score of 249.

It was Uttar Pradesh's Yuvika Tomar, who was the best shooter all-around in qualifying, topping both the women's and junior women's qualifiers with a score of 584.

However, Manu was too good for her, sealing the final 16-12.

The second and third positions were claimed by Yuvika Tomar of Uttar Pradesh and Lakshita of Haryana, who scored 252.7 and 246.7 respectively.

Shikha Narwal won in the youth category where Lakshita picked up the silver.

Yuvika did win gold on the day though, teaming up with Anjali Chaudhary and Devanshi Dhama to seal the team title for UP.

Haryana won silver, while Maharashtra claimed the bronze medal. 

Also Read : Niraj claims men's 3P gold at 20th Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting

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New Delhi, Jun 12 (Shooting News) Niraj claimed the men's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) gold ahead of Punjab's Sartaj Singh Tiwana at the 20th Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial (KSSM) Shooting competition which concluded here on Sunday.

Niraj beat Sartaj 17-9 in the 3P gold final but the Punjab youngster won the Junior event to round off a memorable day. Indian Navy's Niraj topped the first qualification round with a score of 585/600 and then bested the eight-man ranking round with an effort of 403.8 to make the gold medal match. Sartaj, who came second to make it to the final, was way behind in the ranking round with a score of 400.4.

The Indian Navy then picked up a second medal in the event with Kiran Ankush Jadhav winning bronze with a score of 399.8 in the ranking round. In the junior men's 3P, it was Delhi's Shivam Dabas who topped the first qualification round with a score of 581. Himachal's Surya Pratap Singh finished second with 580 while Sartaj qualified third with a subdued 578.

However, in the ranking round, Surya Pratap finished on top of the eight-man field with a 402.0 as Sartaj setup his second gold medal match of the day, finishing second with 400.7.

Dabas settled for bronze with a 398.1.

The final of the junior men's 3P was a much tighter affair with Sartaj finally prevailing 17-15 in the end.

Team medals for men's 3P were also won with Indian Navy, Madhya Pradesh and the Indian Air Force finishing first, second and third respectively. 

Also Read : Narwal, Singhraj and Akash add silver to India's tally in Chateauroux Para Shooting WC

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New Delhi, Jun 9 (Shooting News) Tokyo Paralympic gold medallist Manish Narwal settled for a silver medal in P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 Team event at the World Para Shooting World Cup in Chateauroux, France on Thursday.

A day after winning the 10m Mixed Team gold medal, the 20-year-old Narwal, who took the P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 gold with a Paralympic record in his debut Games, teamed up with Singhraj, also a Paralympic medallist, and Akash to aggregate a total of 1581 to finish behind China (1628).

Turkey took the bronze with a total score of 1565.

The top Indian shooters, however, faltered in the individual event with Akash being the only Indian to qualify for the P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 finals. He eventually finished fifth with a score of 159.4.

China's Yang Chao took the gold with a total of 223.9, followed by compatriot Huang Xing (218.5) and Uzbekistan's Ibragimov Server (200.7).

Singhraj and Narwal ended in the ninth and 10th places in the qualification round. The top eight shooters qualify for the final round.

On Friday, Deepender Singh, Rahul Jakhar, Rubina Francis and Akash will be in action in P5 Mixed 10m Air Pistol Standard SH1 event. 

Also Read : Narwal-Francis pair win India's third gold in Para Shooting World Cup in France

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New Delhi, Jun 8 (Shooting News) Manish Narwal and Rubina Francis won the 10m P6 air pistol mixed team event to clinch India's third gold medal at the ongoing World Shooting Para Sport World Cup in Chateauroux, France on Wednesday.

Narwal and Francis, who aggregated a world record qualifying score of 565 to enter the final at the top position, defeated Chinese pair of Yang Chao and Min Li 17-11 in the title clash.

The Indian pair totalled 274.3.

Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist Narwal scored 138.7 in the final six shots. He shot consistent scores of 10s and 9s, but Francis also matched her fancied partner with 9s, a few 8s and 10.

China's Chao was impressive with four 10s but Min faltered in crucial moments.

On Thursday, Narwal, Singhraj Adhana, Rahul Jakhar and Akash will be in action in P4 - mixed 50m pistol SH1 event.

On Tuesday, Sriharsha Devaraddi Ramakrishna became the second Indian para shooter to earn a quota for the Paris Paralympics after securing a gold medal in mixed 10m air rifle SH2 event.

Ramakrishna produced a final score of 253.1 to claim the yellow metal, while Slovakia's Francek Tirsek (252.6) and Tanguy De La Forest (230.3) bagged the silver and bronze.

Ramakrishna thus followed the extraordinary show of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara, who set a new world record en route clinching the gold medal. In the R2 - women's 10m air rifle standing finals, Lekhara, the 20-year-old from Rajasthan, shot a final score of 250.6 to break her own world record of 249.6 and take the gold ahead of Poland's Emilia Babska (247.6) and Anna Normann of Sweden (225.6).

"This event is very important for me as it is the first event after Tokyo. It will help me understand the progress that I've made on various aspects that I have been working on since then," Lekhara told the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).

"It is also my first international event with my new equipment and this will help me analyse my game further and know further adjustments that need to be made! Lekhara, the two-time Tokyo 2020 medallist, said her "target for the year is to consistently analyse my game and improve the little bits." "To be a consistent shooter is my aim and hopefully win medals along the way too." India has been represented by 13 para shooters at this season opening World Cup in Chateauroux, France. 

Also Read : Chateauroux 2022 World Cup: Ramakrishna joins Lekhara in clinching gold, Paris 2024 quota

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New Delhi, Jun 8 (Shooting News) Sriharsha Devaraddi Ramakrishna has become the second Indian para shooter to earn a quota for the Paris Paralympics after securing a gold medal in mixed 10m air rifle SH2 at the ongoing Chateauroux Para Shooting World Cup.

Ramakrishna produced a final score of 253.1 to claim the yellow metal, while Slovakia's Francek Tirsek (252.6) and Tanguy De La Forest (230.3) bagged the silver and bronze.

Ramakrishna thus followed the extraordinary show of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara, who set a new world record en route clinching the gold medal on the opening day of the event.

In the R2 - women's 10m air rifle standing finals, Lekhara, the 20-year-old from Rajasthan, shot a final score of 250.6 to break her own world record of 249.6 and take the gold ahead of Poland's Emilia Babska (247.6) and Anna Normann of Sweden (225.6).

"This event is very important for me as it is the first event after Tokyo. It will help me understand the progress that I've made on various aspects that I have been working on since then," Lekhara told the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).

"It is also my first international event with my new equipment and this will help me analyse my game further and know further adjustments that need to be made! Lekhara, the two-time Tokyo 2020 medallist, said her "target for the year is to consistently analyse my game and improve the little bits." "To be a consistent shooter is my aim and hopefully win medals along the way too." India has been represented by 13 para shooters at this season opening World Cup in Chateauroux, France.

On Wednesday, Paralympic medallist Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adhana would be in action in the P6 10m air pistol mixed team event. 

Also Read : Avani Lekhara wins gold with world record in Para World Cup

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New Delhi, Jun 7 (Shooting News) Tokyo Paralympics champion Avani Lekhara won gold at the Para Shooting World Cup with a world record score of 250.6 in women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 in Chateauroux, France on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old shooter broke her own world record of 249.6 to secure her a spot at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Poland's Emilia Babska bagged the silver medal with a total of 247.6, while the bronze went to Anna Normann of Sweden after she shot 225.6.

SH1 category is for athletes with lower limb impairment for competition in rifle events.

Lekhara bagged the top prize three days after being on the verge of missing the tournament as her coach and escort were initially denied visas.

However, the issue was resolved after intervention of the Sports Authority of India and Sports Ministry.

"Proud to bring home the gold in the R2 10M Air Rifle SH1 event with a WR score & India's 1st Paris2024 Quota, at the Chateauroux2022. My 1st Int. event since the @paralympics. A big thank you to everyone who has supported me!" she tweeted.

"Avani Lekhara, the new WorldRecord holder in the R2 - women's 10m air rifle standing SH1. The Indian shooter just crushed the former record (249.6) by scoring 250.6 in the Chateauroux2022 World Cup, in France!" Shooting Para Sport wrote on its Twitter handle.

In August last year, Lekhara bagged a gold in the 10m air rifle standing event in the SH1 category at the Tokyo Paralympics. She followed it up with a bronze in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 event, making her the first Indian woman to win multiple medals at the Paralympics. 

Also Read : Swapnil-Ashi win 50m rifle 3P mixed gold, India end Baku WC on 2nd spot

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New Delhi, Jun 4 (Shooting News) Swapnil Kusale and Ashi Chouksey drew curtains on India's campaign at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun in Baku, Azerbaijan with a gold medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) mixed team competition, here on Saturday.

The pair of Swapnil and Ashi beat Ukranian's Serhiy Kulish and Daria Tykhova 16-12 in the gold medal match.

This was India's second gold in the tournament after the trio of Elavenil Valarivan, Shreya Agarwal and Ramita clinched a yellow metal in the 10m air rifle women's team event.

Besides, the Indian shooters had also bagged three silvers in the tournament and finished second on the medals tally behind Korea.

It was also Swapnil's first gold and third medal overall at the Baku World Cup. He had earlier won silvers in both the men's 3P individual and men's team competitions.

In the first qualification stage played earlier in the day, Swapnil and Ashi finished fourth with a combined score of 881 out of 900 to qualify for stage two among 31 teams. The Ukranian pair finished second to march into the top eight stage.

In stage two, the Indian pair finished second with an effort of 583 out of 600. It was the same score as the Ukranians but the Indians topped on countback.

In the final, Ukraine started stronger and opened up a 6-2 lead after the first four single-shot series.

But the Indian pair fought back admirably, winning six of the next eight series to go ahead 14-10.

Serhiy and Daria were not the ones to give up and narrowed the deficit down to 14-12 before Swapnil and Ashi claimed the well-deserved victory.

This was India's second ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup of the year.

The Indian shooters had topped the first World Cup stage in Cairo in the beginning of the year before both the rifle and pistol teams opted out of the Rio World Cup in April.

India was represented by a 12-member rifle squad in Baku. The shotgun team also participated in two World Cup stages, winning medals in each of them.

All three squads will be seen in action in the fourth and final Changwon World Cup stage next month, before the big-ticket event -- the World Championships later this year. 

Also Read : Paralympic medallist Singharaj, 5 others denied visas; will miss Para Shooting WC in France

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New Delhi, Jun 4 (Shooting News) Six members of the Indian para shooting contingent, including double Paralympic medallist Singharaj Adhana, on Saturday failed to travel to Chateauroux, France for the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup after they were denied visas, despite the intervention of the Indian government.

The matter came to light after Tokyo Paralympic Games gold medallist shooter Avani Lekhara took to twitter, seeking help following denial of visa to her escort and mother Shewata Jewaria and coach Rakesh Manpat.

But talking to PTI from the airport, chief national coach and chairman of Indian Para Shooting Jai Prakash Nautiyal said Lekhara and her coach Manpat's visas were cleared.

"Avani and her coach's visas were granted but her escort, who is also her mother didn't get her visa," Nautiyal said.

"Besides, three para shooters -- Singharaj, Rahul Jhakhar and Deepinder Singh (all para pistol shooters) and two coaches Subhas Rana (national coach) and Vivek Saini (assistant coach) did not get their visas.

"The French embassy didn't mention any reason, simply said there is a huge surge for visas. We applied for our visas on April 23 and were sure of getting all cleared. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also intervened and were helping us but despite that visas of six members were rejected," he added.

The event to be held from Jun 4 to 13 is of significance for Indian para shooters as Paris Paralympics quota places were on offer there.

"We are now going with a 22-member contingent, which includes 14 shooters. We were quite confident of getting visas of all members cleared since Paris will be the host for the next Paralympics and there are 18 2024 Paralympics quota places on offer in the tournament," Nautiyal said.

Replying to Avani's tweet, the Sports Authority of India termed the incident as unfortunate.

"It is unfortunate that all the visas of the Indian Para Shooting Contingent going to France have not been approved. All efforts were made by MYAS and MEA to secure all visas but unfortunately this time the efforts did not materialise," SAI tweeted. 

Also Read : Anjum clinches silver, India move up to third spot in Baku Shooting World Cup

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New Delhi, Jun 3 (Shooting News) Experienced Indian shooter Anjum Moudgil clinched a silver in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions as India moved up to third spot in the medal tally at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday.

Anjum went down 12-16 in the gold medal match to Denmark’s Rikke Maeng Ibsen.

Anjum, also a world championship silver medallist, had on Thursday qualified for the top-eight ranking round with a score of 587 out of 600, which gave her a fourth place in a field of 60 shooters On Friday, she finished second to Ibsen in stage two with a 406.5 to the Norwegian's 411.4. She then put up a strong challenge in the final but could not put it across the Dane.

It is Anjum's second individual World Cup silver in the event.

The Men's 3P trio of Swapnil, Deepak Kumar and Goldie Gurjar also won a silver in the team competition.

The trio came through two rounds of qualifying to make it to the gold medal match which they lost 7-17 to Croatia. Ukraine picked up the bronze.

Swapnil Kusale had also finished second in the corresponding Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions on Thursday.

Indian now have one gold and three silver medals in the tournament and stand in third place behind Korea and Serbia.

There was heartbreak for the other two Indian women in the fray as Ayushi Podder finished 16th with a score of 585, just one point away from the final top-eight mark and Ashi Chouksey ended 20th with a score of 584.

The women's 3P team comprising Anjum and Ayushi won their first qualifying round with an aggregate of 1316 to make it to stage two. However, they could not get into the reckoning for a medal, finishing sixth in the ranking round with a score of 867, falling short of the medal rounds by a point.

India fielded a 12-member Rifle squad in the Baku World Cup. 

Also Read : Swapnil wins silver in men's rifle 3P, his first individual ISSF World Cup medal

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New Delhi, Jun 2 (Shooting News) Indian shooter Swapnil Kusale won a silver medal in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) event at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan on Thursday, giving the country its second medal of the competition.

The 26-year-old Swapnil went down 10-16 to Rio Olympics silver winner Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine in the gold medal match. This was Swapnil's first individual ISSF World Cup stage medal.

The 12-member Indian rifle squad now has one gold and one silver, moving up to fifth on the medal table from overnight ninth.

Swapnil played a tremendous 3P match over two days of intense competition in a world class field.

He first finished second to Kulish in the top-eight ranking round earlier on Thursday, before going down to the Ukranian champion again in the gold medal match.

Kulish shot 411 in the ranking round to Swapnil's 409.1 as Finland's Aleksi took the bronze with 407.8.

The top two therefore finished in the same order right from the qualification rounds on Wednesday.

In the final, Swapnil did put up a fight but the Ukranian finished strong to put the issue beyond the Indian.

Kulish shot four high 10s in his last five shots of the final to Swapnil's three low 10s and two 9s. 

Also Read : Swapnil Kusale enters final of men's 3P at Baku Shooting World Cup

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Jun 1 (Shooting News) India's Swapnil Kusale qualified for the final of the men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) competition at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday.

The young Indian shot 199 out of 200 in the first kneeling position, 198 in the prone position and rounded it off with a 194 in the final standing position, to finish a creditable second in the 53-strong field.

His aggregate of 591 was three behind Rio Olympic silver medallist Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine, who finished on top.

The eight-men final will be played on Thursday.

Two other Indians in the fray, Goldi Gurjar and Olympian Deepak Kumar finished 14th and 23rd with scores of 585 and 583 respectively.

The 12-member Indian rifle contingent participating in the Baku World Cup has so far bagged one gold and are lying ninth in the standings. Korea lead the table with three gold medals. 

Also Read : ISSF World Cup: Elavenil, Ramita and Shreya win gold in women's 10m air rifle team competition

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, May 31 (Shooting News) India opened their account at the ongoing ISSF World Cup with the trio of Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita and Shreya Agrawal claiming the gold medal in the 10m air rifle team women competition in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Indian trio outplayed Denmark represented by Anna Nielsen, Emma Koch and Rikke Maeng Ibsen, 17-5 in the gold medal contest. Poland won bronze in the event.

Former world number one Elavenil, Ramita and Shreya had reached the gold medal clash after two rounds of qualification on Monday.

The Indian trio had first topped the qualification stage one with a combined effort of 944.4 across 90 shots. They then came second in stage two behind Denmark, to make the title round.

In men's air rifle team competition, Indian troika of Rudrankksh Patil, Paarth Makhija and Dhanush Srikanth fell short in their bronze medal match against Croatia, going down 10-16.

The 12-member Indian rifle squad now finds itself at the fifth spot in the medals tally with Serbia leading the field with two golds and a total of four medals. 

Also Read : Indian women's and men's air rifle teams reach medal rounds

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, May 30 (Shooting News) The Indian women's and men's 10m air rifle teams reached the medal rounds of their respective events in the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday.

The women did one better than their male counterparts, making it to the gold medal match against Denmark on Tuesday. The men's team will take on Croatia on the same day, for a shot at bronze.

Former world number one Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita and Shreya Agrawal, first topped the qualification stage one of the women's 10m air rifle team event with a combined effort of 944.4 across 90 shots. A total of 17 teams competed.

Then, they came second in stage two behind Denmark, to make the title round. The trio shot 628.6 to Denmark's 629.2 after all three team members attempted 20 shots each.

In the men's 10m air rifle team competition, the Indian trio of Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil, Dhanush Srikanth and Paarth Makhija finished third in qualification stage two to make it to the bronze medal match.

They finished second to Austria in stage one to make the top eight stage out of 14 teams.

Earlier, in the 10m air rifle mixed team event, both the pairing of Shreya and Rudrankksh and Elavenil and Paarth, could not make much headway. The former finished 14th in qualification with a score of 625.6, while the latter shot 623.5 for a 24th place finish.

India has fielded a 12-member rifle only squad in the combined World Cup. 

Also Read : Rudrankksh finishes seventh at Baku Shooting World Cup

News Source : PTi

New Delhi, May 29 (Shooting News) India's Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil finished seventh in the men's 10m air rifle competition at the ISSF Combined World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday.

The 18-year-old Junior World Championship silver medallist had made the top eight stage on Saturday, finishing fourth in qualification.

Serbia's Lazar Kovacevic won gold, Croatian Miran Maricic silver and Kazakh Islam Usseinov won bronze.

Rudrankksh shot 153.7 in the ranking round to bow out first along with Poland's Maciej Kowalewicz.

Miran topped the round with 261.8 while Lazar was second with 260.9. The final was close affair till the Serb prevailed 16-14 over the Croat.

Indian team has fielded a 12-member rifle only squad in this World Cup. 

Also Read : Sift-Surya win 50m rifle prone mixed silver, India finish on top in Suhl Junior WC

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New Delhi, May 19 (Shooting News) Sift Kaur Samra and Surya Pratap Singh on Thursday settled for a silver in the 50m rifle prone mixed team event as India finished on top at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.

Sift and Surya lost 15-17 to the Polish pair of Maja Magdalena Gawenda and Wiktoro Sajdak in the final.

However, Abhay Singh Sekhon and Areeba Khan bowed out in the qualification round of skeet mixed team competition, the final event of the day, finishing a lowly seventh with a combined effort of 134 out of 150.

The second Indian pair in the competition, Bhavtegh Singh Gill and Darshna Rathore were no better as they finished further back in the 10th spot with a score of 132.

Late on Wednesday, the Indian women's skeet team of Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Darshna Rathore and Areeba Khan blanked Germany 6-0 to win a bronze medal. The medal was only India's third medal in the shotgun discipline.

On Wednesday, India had also added a gold and silver in the 25m rapid fire mixed team competition after Simranpreet Kaur Brar and Vijayveer Sidhu won 17-9 against Anish and Tejaswani in an all-Indian final.

India bagged a rich haul of 33 medals from the event, including 13 gold, 15 silver and five bronze. 

Also Read : India's women pistol shooters make it five out of five wins at Suhl Junior World Cup

News Source : PTI