ISSF Junior World Championships: Manu Bhaker finishes 3rd in qualification as India shines in Lima

Manu Bhaker is the biggest name in the Indian squad at the ISSF Junior World Championships held in Lima, Peru. She finished third in the qualification for the 10m air pistol event on Wednesday.

Manu Bhaker, who is eyeing redemption after the Tokyo Olympic failure, scored 574 points. She was overshadowed by Frenchwoman Camille Jedrzejewski’s 580 and compatriot Rhythm Sangwan’s 577. The 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist will compete in five events in Peru.

Shikha Narwal (571) and Esha Singh (572) were the other two Indians to make the cut from a low-scoring qualification round. Priya Muralidhar (564) was the only one who failed to qualify for the finals of the ISSF Junior World Championships scheduled to be held on Thursday (today).

The qualification score was 570, which was seven points less than in the Tokyo Olympics. India has sent a large contingent of 74 shooters, coaches and support staff for the competition scheduled from September 27 to October 10.

10m Air Rifle (Men) at ISSF Junior World Championships

Five of the eight final places in the men’s 10m Air Rifle were booked by Indian shooters. Out of the five, three shooters – Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil, Dhanush Srikanth and Paarth Makhija – scored 629.2 or above.

USA’s Olympic champion Will Shaner finished No.1 in qualification with a score of 630.7. Patil finished second with 0.5 points difference. Rajpreet Singh and Yash Vardhan finished 5th and 6th. Danilo Sollazzo and Jesus Oviedo, the only other non-Indians, finished 7th and 8th, the latter scoring 625.9.

10m Air Rifle (Women) at ISSF Junior World Championships

Similarly, in the women’s 10M Air Rifle, Mehuli Ghosh led a trio of Indians into the finals. She was 630.9 overall (coming in third) while Ramita shot 629.8 and Nisha Kanwar 629.1 to make it through in fourth and fifth positions. Ghosh would like to make her return competition a memorable one but will have to tackle challenges from two Tokyo Olympic finalists.

Oceanne Muller (France) and Mary Tucker (USA) finished first and second with scores of 632.6 and 632.1 respectively.

10m Air Pistol (Men) at ISSF Junior World Championships

In the Junior Men’s 10M Air Pistol Naveen topped the standings with a 584 to make the finals cut. Sarabjot Singh also shot the same score to finish second on lesser inner 10s. Vijaveer Sidhu was the third Indian to make it through, finishing fourth with a score of 581.

Skeet events on Day 1 at ISSF Junior World Championships

In the Junior Men’s and Women’s Skeet, two rounds of qualification are yet to be played before the top six move into the finals.

In the team events of the Junior Men’s and Women’s Air Rifle and Air Pistol, the Indian teams are currently in gold medal positions in all the events at the ISSF Junior World Championships.