Parth Rakesh Mane wins double gold medal at ISSF World Junior Championships

Parth Rakesh Mane won the title of Junior World Champion by winning two individual gold medal in 10 meter air rifle event and in team event at the ISSF Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru.

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After winning the 10m Air Rifle individual title, Parth also won the gold medal in the men's 10m Air Rifle team event along with Ajay Malik and Abhinav Shaw. India also got its third gold when Gautami Bhanot, Sambhavi Kshirsagar, and Anoushka Thakur won the 10m air rifle in the junior women's team shooting event.

Parth surpassed Chinese shooter

16-year-old Parth Mane performed brilliantly, scoring 250.7 points in the 24-shot final, surpassing reigning Junior Asian champion Huang Liwanlin of China by 0.7 points. 

America's Braden Peiser won the bronze medal, while Paris Olympics 2024 silver medalist Victor Lindgren of Sweden finished fourth. Reigning double junior world champion Romain Aufrere finished sixth. India's other shooters, Ajay Malik and 15-year-old Abhinav Shaw finished fifth and seventh respectively.

Ajay lost to Lindgren in the shoot-off with 186.7 points, while Abhinav finished seventh with 144.2 points. In the qualification round of the first 62 competitors, Ajay stood second (628.8), Parth stood fourth (627.7) and Abhinav stood sixth (627.0). India's other two competitors, Umamahesh Maddineni (625.5) and Talwar Singh (625.2) finished 13th and 14th. 

With this, the team of Parth, Ajay, and Abhinav scored a total of 1883.5 points and won the team gold by defeating America (1877.6) and Germany (1873.9).

Three shooters reached women's air rifle final

Three Indians also reached the junior women's air rifle final, but could not win individual medals. Gautami Bhanot performed brilliantly and qualified second among 90 competitors with a score of 634.7. China's Wang Zifei topped the junior world record with 635.7 points.

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Shambhavi Kshirsagar qualified at fourth position (632.6) and Ojasvi Thakur qualified at fifth position (631.4). Anoushka Thakur was at 17th place (627.5) and Soumya Khedkar was at 20th place (627.4). Gautami finished fourth in the final, where she trailed the bronze medalist American shooter by 0.2 points.

With five gold medals to their credit, India continues to lead the overall medal tally at the ISSF World Junior Championships.