Shooting
ISSF Junior World Cup 2025: India sweep women’s 10m air rifle podium
Ojasvi Thakur led all-Indian podium; Himanshu and Mukesh added to the medal tally as Day 5 ends with a strong Indian presence.
India register a clean sweep of the podium in 10m air rifle women. (Photp credit: NRAI)
India produced a stunning display of dominance in the 10m Air Rifle Junior Women’s event at the ISSF Junior World Cup New Delhi 2025, held at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, registering a clean sweep of the podium.
Clean sweep in women’s 10m air rifle
Ojasvi Thakur emerged as the champion with a score of 252.7, firing two brilliant 10.9s on her 8th and 16th shots to seal the gold medal. Teammate Hrudya Shri Kondur secured the silver with 250.2, while qualification leader Shambhavi S. Kshirsagar completed the all-India podium with 229.4.
The Indian trio had already stamped their authority during qualification, finishing as the top three – Shambhavi leading with 632.0, Ojasvi following closely on 631.9, and Hrudya third on 629.8. Croatia’s Anamarija Turk, who had qualified eighth, emerged as the closest challenger but finished fourth in the final with 206.6.
The rest of the finalists included Lidiia Vasileva (184.5), Varvara Kardakova (164.2), Mariia Kruglova (142.8), and Slovakia’s Kamila Novotna (122.1).
Men’s 10m air rifle junior final
In the men’s 10m Air Rifle Junior final, India’s Himanshu, who had topped qualification with 633.7, maintained his stellar form to clinch gold with 250.9. Individual Neutral Athlete Dmitrii Pimenov followed with 249.9 for silver, while India’s Abhinav Shaw claimed bronze with 228.4.
Fellow Indian Naraen Pranav Vanitha Suresh finished fifth with 187.0, while AIN’s Kamil Nuriakhmetov placed fourth on 208.3, and his teammate Sergei Novoselov took sixth with 165.9. Croatia’s Darko Tomasevic (144.8) and Oman’s Khalid Mohammed Ali Khalaf Al Kalbani (123.5) completed the line-up.
Thrilling finish in 25m rapid fire pistol men junior
The 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Junior final delivered edge-of-the-seat action as AIN’s Aleksandr Kovalev edged past India’s Mukesh Nelavalli in a shoot-off to claim the gold medal. Both athletes had ended tied on 27 hits, but Kovalev prevailed 3-1 in the decider. Mukesh, who had qualified third with 571-20x, took silver.
India still managed a double podium as Suraj Sharma, the qualification leader with 577-15x, claimed bronze with 21 hits. Sameer finished fourth with 15 hits, while Great Britain’s Toby Aberdeen (10) and AIN’s Georgii Tarasov (7) closed out the field.
