Shooting World Cup Lima: Arjun Babuta Secures Silver in Men's Air Rifle; Aarya Borse Finishes Fifth in Women's Competition
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Synopsis
On April 20, 2025, Indian shooter Arjun Babuta claimed silver in the men's 10m air rifle event at the ISSF World Cup in Lima, narrowly missing gold to China's Lihao Sheng. Aarya Borse finished fifth in the women's event, which saw a Chinese sweep of the podium.
Key Takeaways
- Arjun Babuta won silver in 10m Air Rifle.
- He scored 252.3 points, just 0.1 points behind the winner.
- Aarya Borse secured fifth place with 188.1 points.
- China dominated both men's and women's events.
- India ranks third in the overall medal tally with five medals.
Lima, April 20 (NationPress) Indian shooter Arjun Babuta clinched a silver medal in the 10m Air Rifle event at the ISSF World Cup 2025, finishing merely 0.1 points shy of the reigning Olympic champion Lihao Sheng from China.
Babuta, who previously secured the fourth position in the men’s 10m air rifle during the Paris Olympics last year, achieved a score of 252.3 points, while the Chinese competitor scored 252.4.
Babuta started strong in the second stage of the competition, but Sheng gradually closed the gap, trailing by just 0.3 points going into the final two shots. Aiming for the title, Babuta shot a 10.3 and 10.5, but Sheng managed to fire a 10.9 followed by a 10.3 to surpass him, concluding with totals of 252.4 to 252.3.
Hungarian rifle ace Istvan Marton Peni, who led early on, secured the bronze medal, finishing ahead of Olympic silver medallist Victor Lindgren from Sweden. Norwegian shooter Jon-Hermann Hegg fell short of the medals, finishing fifth after a challenging final round.
Norway's Ole Martin Halvorsen and Rylan Kisseell from the United States took sixth and seventh places, respectively. Meanwhile, Rudrankksh Patil, who won at the Buenos Aires World Cup, faced disqualification after the second series for shooting prior to the command from the range officials, resulting in an eighth-place finish with a score of 104.8.
In the women's 10m air rifle event, Aarya Borse finished fifth with a score of 188.1 points in a final dominated by Chinese competitors. Aarya achieved an impressive 633.9 on April 19, 2025, qualifying for the final, ranking just behind the reigning junior world champion and gold medalist Wang Zifei of China, who shattered three world records that day.
Aarya exited the competition after the 18th shot of a 24-shot final, her score resting at 188.1, a mere 0.1 points behind silver medalist Han Jiayu of China, who was in fourth place at that point.
Wang led a Chinese medal sweep, while another emerging talent, Fan Xinyi, claimed the bronze. Wang set a new junior qualification record (635.9) and established new junior and senior final world records (254.8) in a remarkable display of air rifle precision throughout the day.
Currently, India ranks third in the medal tally with a total of five medals, comprising two gold, two silver, and one bronze.
At the shotgun ranges, where trap competitions commenced, two Indian trap shooters, veteran Zoravar Sandhu in men’s trap and Pragati Dubey in the women’s division, began with flawless first rounds of 25 each.
However, Zoravar concluded the day with a score of 70 after three rounds, finishing 21st, while teammates Prithviraj Tondaiman and Lakshay Sheoran recorded scores of 69, placing them 24th and 25th, respectively.
Among the women, national champion Bhavya Tripathi had the best performance among Indians with a score of 69 (24, 22, 23), securing seventh place, while Pragati with 68 positioned herself ninth. Neeru trailed behind in 18th place with a total of 60 hits.
