Shooting: Parth Mane Becomes Junior Men's 10m Air Rifle World Champion

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Parth Rakesh Mane clinched the junior world championship title in the 10m air rifle event, spearheading India's impressive showing at the ISSF Junior World Championship in Lima, Peru.

On the third day of the competition, India's medal haul continued to grow. Parth secured a double gold, also winning the team event alongside Ajay Malik and Abhinav Shaw. India's third gold of the day came from the junior women's 10m air rifle team, with Gautami Bhanot, Sambhavi Kshirsagar, and Anoushka Thakur capturing the top spot.

The standout moment of the day came from 16-year-old Parth Mane, who displayed remarkable composure to outshine a highly skilled field with a stellar performance.

Mane scored 250.7 in the 24-shot final, edging past China's reigning junior Asian champion Huang Liwanlin by just 0.7 points. The USA's Braden Peiser claimed the bronze, while Paris Olympic silver medallist Victor Lindgren of Sweden finished fourth, and reigning double junior world champion Romain Aufrere placed sixth.

Parth's fellow countrymen, the in-form Ajay Malik and the 15-year-old Abhinav Shaw, secured fifth and seventh places respectively. Ajay was eliminated in a shoot-off against Lindgren, finishing with a score of 186.7, while Abhinav exited in seventh with 144.2.

In the earlier 62-strong qualification round, Ajay placed second with 628.8, Parth took fourth with 627.7, and Abhinav qualified sixth with 627.0 after 60 shots. Two other Indians, Umamahesh Maddineni (625.5) and Talwar Singh (625.2), finished in 13th and 14th place respectively.

The trio of Parth, Ajay, and Abhinav combined for a total score of 1883.5, comfortably surpassing the USA (1877.6) and Germany (1873.9) to claim the team gold.

In the junior women's air rifle event, three Indian shooters reached the final but narrowly missed out on individual medals. Gautami Bhanot delivered an outstanding performance, placing second in the 90-competitor qualification round with a score of 634.7, just behind China's Wang Zifei, who set a junior world record with 635.7.

Shambhavi Kshirsagar finished fourth with 632.6, followed by Ojasvi Thakur in fifth with 631.4. Anoushka Thakur placed 17th with 627.5, while Saumya Khedkar secured 20th with 627.4.

Gautami finished fourth in the final, falling short of the bronze medal by just 0.2 points after the 20th shot, with a total score of 209.3. Shambhavi placed fifth with 188.4 points, and Ojasvi ended in seventh with a score of 146.1.

Despite their individual finishes, Gautami and Shambhavi teamed up with Anoushka Thakur to dominate the team event, setting a junior world team record score of 1894.8 and defeating the USA for the title. Norway took third place.

Meanwhile, in the junior men's and women's skeet competition, the Indian shooters faced tough luck. Gurfateh Singh Sandhu scored 112 in the qualification round, placing 29th, while Bhavtegh Singh Gill also posted 112, finishing 31st after a countback. Harmehar Singh Lally placed 44th with a score of 107.

Mansi Raghuwanshi was India's top performer in the junior women's skeet event, finishing 8th with a score of 109, just one point shy of qualification. Mufaddal Dessawala and Shivani Raikwar both scored 98, placing 30th and 31st, respectively. India remain atop the medal tally with five gold medals.