Jr shooting worlds: India finish on top with 43 medals

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) A relook at the results resulted in India's overall medals tally being re-totaled to a whopping 43 medals as the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Championship concluded at the Las Palmas Shooting range in the Peruvian capital of Lima.

India had sought some clarifications from the ISSF as its overall tally was being shown 40 in the competition that ended on Saturday after eleven days of competitions involving the top young shooters in rifle, pistol, and shotgun.

Vijayveer Sidhu, Rhythm Sangwan, Arjun Singh Cheema, and Shikha Narwal were India's gold medallists on the 11th and final day on Saturday, putting India firmly on top of the standings with 17 gold medals. India made a clean sweep of all four events on the final day.

Following a clarification sought by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) from the ISSF, the medals tally was updated on Monday (October 11) with India now credited with 16 silver and 10 bronze in addition to the 17 gold medals.

On Saturday, Vijayveer began the sweep with a gold in the junior men's 25m Standard Pistol with his third gold medal of the Championship. His twin brother Udhayveer won silver with 570, the same score as Vijayveer's but with three lesser inner 10s. Harsh Gupta won bronze with a 566 in a field that was 17-strong.

Then Rhythm Sangwan won her fourth gold of the Championship with victory in the junior women's 25m Standard Pistol with a score of 573, leaving compatriots Niveditha Veloor Nair (565) and Naamya Kapoor (563) behind in silver and bronze positions.

Then in the 50m Pistol for junior men, India's Arjun Singh Cheema bossed the 16-strong field with a 549 out of 600 with both teammates Shaurya Sarin and Ajinkya Chavan also finishing on the same score. Shaurya was adjudged second and Ajinkya third on inner 10s and countback, the NRAI said in a release.

In the final event of the Championship, India's Shikha Narwal won th' junior women's 50m Pistol with a score of 530. Esha Singh was second with 529 while Navdeep Kaur was third with 526.

In all, the Pistol discipline stole a march over the other two for India, accounting for 26 medals of the 43. The shotgun had nine medals while Rifle competitors won eight.

Olympians Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Manu Bhaker reiterated their world-class credentials yet again with dominating performances. Manu was the most successful Indian athlete with four gold and one bronze medal while Aishwary smashed the junior world record en route to winn'ng the junior men's 50M Rifle 3 Positions gold medal.

In the shotgun discipline, Ganemat Sekhon in the junior women's skeet returned with a credible two medals (one gold, one silver) to further enhance her reputation as an excellent future prospect.