Parth Rakesh Mane claimed the junior world champion title in the 10m air rifle event, spearheading India’s impressive performance at the ISSF Junior World Championship in Lima, Peru. The 16-year-old secured two golds, including a team victory alongside Ajay Malik and Abhinav Shaw in the men’s 10m air rifle team event. The women’s 10m air rifle team also struck gold, with Gautami Bhanot, Sambhavi Kshirsagar, and Anoushka Thakur taking the top spot.
Mane’s standout performance came in the 24-shot final, where he scored 250.7 to edge past China’s junior Asian champion Huang Liwanlin by just 0.7 points. Braden Peiser from the USA took bronze, while Paris Olympic silver medallist Victor Lindgren of Sweden finished fourth. Ajay Malik and Abhinav Shaw placed fifth and seventh, respectively, after a tough competition.
In the qualification round, Ajay ranked second, Parth placed fourth, and Abhinav finished sixth among the 62 participants, contributing to the team’s gold-winning total score of 1883.5, surpassing the USA and Germany.
In the women’s 10m air rifle final, Gautami Bhanot led three Indian finalists but narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth. The team of Gautami, Sambhavi, and Anoushka, however, dominated with a junior world record team score of 1894.8, defeating the USA and Norway for the gold.
India’s junior men’s and women’s skeet shooters struggled to make an impact, with Gurfateh Singh Sandhu and Bhavtegh Singh Gill finishing outside the top 20, while Mansi Raghuwanshi narrowly missed qualifying for the women’s final.
India remains at the top of the medal tally with five golds.