2018 Youth Olympic Games: Shahu Tushar Mane claims silver in shooting

India secured its first medal at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games at the Parque Polideportivo Roca shooting range in Buenos Aires when Shahu Tushar Mane bagged the Silver in the 10m Air Rifle for Men.

Earlier in the qualification rounds, Iran’s Amirsiyavash Zolfagharian led the field by a distance shooting 628.5 points, followed by Changhong Zhang of China with 624.4 and Shahu Tushar Mane of India in the third spot with 623.7 points.

With 52.4 points from the first five shots in the finals, Serbia's Aleksa Mitrovic cruised into the lead. An ordinary 9.6 effort from his tenth shot diminished the lead to a difference of 0.1. The Iranian Zolfagharian, who finished fifth at the Changwon World Championships, became the first person to be eliminated with a disappointing display in the finals. Changhong Zhang of China lost out on a podium finish, ending in fourth place.

18-year-old Russian shooter Grigorii Shamakov sailed into the lead after the second stage of elimination and never looked back as he romped home in style, winning gold. The Indian ran Shamakov close and was 0.1 points behind the Russian with two shots left. Tushar's disappointing 9.6 and 9.9 round efforts from his final two shots handed the Gold to the Russian. Serbian Aleksa Mitrovic took the Bronze.

Gold medalist Grigorii Shamakov from Russia (Image Courtesy: IOC)

The World Junior Bronze medalist Grigorii Shamakov, spoked to the media and said, "After a poor start, I had to remain calm and improve my shooting to claim Gold. I would want to be part of the big games," setting his sights on the 2020 Olympics.

Shahu Tushar Mane of India said that his back injury has limited him to compete at his best and was happy with his silver medal effort.

Gold Medal - Grigorii Shamakov (RUS) – 249.2

Silver Medal - Shahu Tushar Mane (IND) – 247.5

Bronze Medal - Aleksa Mitrovic (SRB) – 227.9