India’s teenage shooter trumps two-time Olympian to win Junior World Cup gold medal

Seventeen-year-old Kanak ended India’s wait for a gold medal at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, finishing on top in the 10m air pol event on Wednesday. A junior World Championship silver medall, Kanak shot a solid 239 in the final to beat Anna Dulce of Moldova, a two-time Olympic and the reigning European champion, 1.7 points. Chinese Taipei’s Chen Yen-Ching won the bronze medal.
Two Indian shooters were in the fray for a medal in Wednesday’s final. While Kanak made the cut for the final in fourth place with a total of 572 in the qualifying round, Prachi finished a spot below with a score of 571. However, when the situation demanded in the closing stages of the final, it was Kanak who produced high 10s to pip her compatriot as well as the six other shooters in the field to finish on top of the podium. “I was a little bit nervous in the beginning, but I am happy that I was able to close out well,” she said.
For most parts of the final, it appeared that Prachi would finish among the medals after she made a strong start. However, a poor 8.6 all but ended her campaign while Kanak began surging ahead with scores of 10.5, three high 10s, a 10.1 and three high 9s (9.7, 9.8, 9.9) in her next nine shots to pull away from the field. She closed the contest with a 9.4, but it didn’t hamper her chances as then, the gold was in her bag.
On Tuesday, Adriyan Karmakar – the son of Olympian Joydeep Karmakar – won a silver medal in the 50m Rifle Prone event. He totalled 626.7 to finish only 0.3 points behind Sweden’s Jesper Johansson who won the gold. The USA’s Griffin Lake took home the bronze with a tally of 624.5. Rohit Kanyan, the other Indian in contention in the event, ended 12th with a score of 620.1 while Nitin Waghmare was 35th (614.4).
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

Expand