India on roll as Bhaker-Anmol wins air pistol mixed gold

The duo of Manu Bhaker and Anmol secured India's seventh gold medal in the ISSF Junior World Cup by winning the mixed 10m air pistol event with a world record in qualification here on Tuesday.

Genemat Sekhon bagged an individual bronze medal in the junior women's skeet, shooting a 36 in the final.

In the mixed 10m air rifle event, 17-year-old Shreya Agrawal and 19-year-old Arjun Babuta completed the podium in third place, finishing with 432.8 points, while their country-mates Elavenil Valarivan (18) and Tejas Krishna Prasad (20) finished fourth with 389.1.

Bhaker and Anmol dominated the event from the very start and entered the final with the highest qualification score and a new junior qualification world record of 770 points.  

The two Indian youngsters dominated the final match from the start. They eventually finished with 478.9 points, just 1.8 points away from the current world record.

China's Liu Jinyao and Li Xue finished second with 473.3 points, while Wang Zhehao (19) and Xiao Jiaruixuan (15) took third place with 410.7.

Meanwhile, Shreya, who trains at Olympic medallist Gagan Narang's Gun For Glory Academy, said, "I am really happy to have secured a bronze medal for the country amidst the tough competition and would like to thank my parents, coaches at GFG and especially Gagan sir who has continuously supported me and believed in me."

As three out of five shooters from GFG claimed medals at the Junior World Cup, Narang seemed overjoyed.

"We at GFG always knew these shooters have the potential to beat anybody on a given day. And after three out of five of them secured medals, it just goes on to show that we are headed towards the right direction," the GGF co-founder Narang said.

Overall, India occupied the second place with 18 medals, including seven gold, while China continued to lead the tally with 22 podium finishes, including eight gold medals.