Indian Shooters on target as ISSF Junior World Cup medal competitions kick off in Azerbaijan

Subhankar Pramanik gave India its first Gold of the year’s second and final International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) Junior World Cup, medal competitions for which kicked-off in Gabala, Azerbaijan on Sunday. The boy from Bengal marked his best ever performance at the international level to shoot a score of 613.8, qualifying in sixth position for the eight-man finals of the Junior Men’s 50M Rifle Prone event.

In the finals, Subhankar shot 205.5 over 20 shots to edge out Filip Nepejchal of the Czech Republic, who managed a score of 205.2 to settle for the Silver. The Bronze went to Dragomir Iordache of Romania. Subhankar, along with teammates Fateh Singh Dhillon and Ajaey Nithish, also helped Indian to a Team Silver in the event.

Sambhaji Patil, then bagged India’s second Gold of the day when he won the Junior Men’s 25M Standard Pistol event when he shot 562 to easily beat Australians Sergei Evglevski and James Ashmore to Silver and Bronze respectively.

Sambhaji also added the Team Gold in the event along with compatriots Gurmeet and Rituraj Singh to take India atop the medal tally with three Gold medals in the day to add to the Silver won in the Junior Men’s Team Rifle Prone and two Bronze medals.

In the year’s first Junior World Cup held in May in Suhl Germany, the Indians Juniors had finished fourth with an overall tally of three Gold, four Silver and three Bronze medals. The Junior Men’s Double Trap is the last medal event of the day where Ahvar Rizvi, Priyanshu Pandey and Bhowneesh Mendiratta will represent Indian interests.