Shooting
ISSF Junior World 2025: Indian shooters finish on top
Tejaswani clinched junior women’s 25m pistol silver on the final day.
(From Left) Tejaswani, Aleksandra Tikhonova, and Alessandra Fait in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Photo Credit: NRAI)
Indian shooters capped off a successful week at the ISSF Junior World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi as the leading nation on the medals table.
On the final day, Tejaswani Singh added a silver in the junior women’s 25m pistol. Individual Neutral Athlete Aleksandra Tikhonova claimed the gold.
India finished on top of the medals table with 19 medals in the Olympic events, including 6 gold, 8 silver, and 5 bronze. AIN followed in second place with 10 medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze), while Italy was third with 5 medals (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze).
In addition, India added 2 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals in the non-Olympic events of 50m rifle prone (men and women) and 25m pistol men junior individual.
A total of eight countries won medals across seven competition days, with five, India, AIN, Italy, Croatia, and Czechia, securing gold.
In the trap mixed team final, Czechia’s Tereza Zaviskova and Tomas Nantl edged compatriots Lea Kucerova and Kamil Bednar to win the gold.
Tikhonova was steady from the start in the 25m Pistol Women Junior final, hitting 33 to secure gold. Tejaswani, who had dominated qualification with 580-17x, kept pace but finished with silver on 30, while Italian athlete Alessandra Fait completed the podium with 28.
Among other Indians in the final, Naamya Kapoor (21) finished fourth and Riya Shirish Thatte (16) was fifth.
India’s Addya Katyal and Arjun narrowly missed the bronze medal match by a single hit, finishing fifth with 136, while Bhavya Tripathi and Arya Vansh Tyagi ended tenth on 132.
In the 25m pistol men junior individual, a non-Olympic event, junior world champion Mukesh Nellavalli from India built on his precision stage score of 289-9x from yesterday with a superb 296-14x in rapid fire to finish with 585-23x for gold.
AIN’s Aleksandr Kovalev, already 25m rapid fire pistol champion earlier in the competition, took silver with 577-17x, and Sahil Choudhary ensured another medal for India with bronze on 573-21x.
Other Indians in action
25m Pistol Women Junior Qualification: Divanshi - 568-15x (6th), Payal Kuldeep Khatri - 564-13x (8th).
25m Pistol Men Junior Individual: Sameer Gulia - 573-19x (4th), Somil Chaudhary - 572-15x (5th), Raghav Verma - 572-13x (7th).
