India’s Anish Bhanwala scripted history in Cairo by clinching a silver at the ISSF World Championships in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event. It was India’s first global medal in this event since Vijay Kumar’s historic silver at the London Olympics.
Competing in an intense final, Anish delivered an impressive performance, maintaining composure under pressure and executing shots with precision – scoring 28/40 in the nail-biting finale. He prevailed in four shoot-offs to secure his first-ever individual World Championship medal. France’s Bessaguat Clement claimed gold with 31/40 and Ukraine’s Maksym Horodynets settled for silver scoring 25. This marked a significant achievement for the 23-year-old at one of the sport’s pinnacle events.
Having scored 291 (96, 99, 96) in Stage 1 on Saturday, Anish came back strong on Sunday, shooting an impressive 294 (98, 99, 97) in Stage 2. He scored a total of 585-22X finishing second in the qualification round just behind Clement (589-21X).
Anish stepped into the final with confidence and opened with a perfect 5 in the first series and carried the momentum till the fifth series. In the sixth series Anish missed two shots which forced him from a shoot-off with Germany’s Emanuel Mueller as both were tied at 22. Both shooters hit three on target in the first shoot-off and went for another where the Indian prevailed by hitting four out of five to confirm the medal.
After the seventh series, Anish once again found himself in a shoot-off, this time against Ukraine’s Horodynets. In the third shoot-off, both shot four and went for another where Anish showed superior composure and precision. Horodynets shot 2 only and in reply the Indian shot four to edge out the Ukrainian and claim the silver.
This was Anish second World Championship medal – In the 2022 edition, he was part of India’s silver-winning mixed team. Earlier this year, Anish he silver in the men’s 25 Rapid Fire Pistol at the Asian Championships in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. He had started 2025 with gold at the National Games in Uttarakhand.
In the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team qualification round, the Indian pair of Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta finished eighth with a score of 632.3, while Shreya Agrawal and Rudranksh Patil placed 21st with 628.8. Both pairs failed to make it into the final.
India are currently fifth in the medal standing with five medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze).
For all sports updates , follow Revsportz