New Delhi, Sep 26 (NationPress) The spotlight shone on 16-year-old Jonathan Gavin Antony on the second day of the ISSF Junior World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun New Delhi 2025 held at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range. He showcased an impeccable performance, clinching the gold medal in the men’s 10m air pistol event.

Having topped the qualification round with a score of 586-19x, Jonathan maintained his exceptional form in the finals, hitting 21 out of 24 shots in the 10s, securing victory by a significant margin of 8.5 points.

Luca Arrighi from Italy secured the silver medal with a score of 236.3 (572-21x), while Lucas Sanchez Tome from Spain took home the bronze with 215.1 (573-11x). Notably, the final included the tournament’s first shoot-off, where Hosein Gohari from Iran narrowly defeated Italy’s Gabriele Aldo Villani for sixth place, both having tied at 156.8. The Iranian subsequently finished fifth with 174.8 (572-12x). Individual Neutral Athletes Vladislav Makarov (194.3) and Igor Tupitsyn (134.9) ended up fourth and seventh, respectively. Chirag Sharma from India, who qualified second with 578-15x, finished in eighth place with 115.6.

In the junior women’s 10m air pistol final, Individual Neutral Athlete Evelina Shiena displayed a steady performance, leading from the beginning to win gold with a score of 240.9. India’s Rashmika Sahgal, who qualified fifth with 573-17x, fought valiantly but settled for silver with 236.1, falling 4.8 points short of Evelina. Fatemah Shekari from Iran, who entered the final eighth with 567-14x, rose to the challenge to secure bronze with 213.8.

Among the other Indian participants, Vanshika Chaudhary, who topped qualification with 576-17x, finished fifth with 174.2 after 18 shots, while Mohini Singh, the second-best qualifier with 576-12x, placed sixth with 153.2.

The skeet competition also commenced with qualification rounds on Day 2. Asian Championship silver medallist Harmehar Singh Lally led the men’s field with an impressive 74 hits out of 75. Close behind him were Andreas Pontikis from Cyprus, Lassi Akseli Matias from Finland, and Marco Coco from Italy, each with 73 hits. Indian shooters Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodiya and Atul Singh, along with Czechia’s Alex Petrasek, formed the chasing pack with 72 hits each.

In the junior women’s skeet, reigning Asian champion Mansi Raghuwanshi topped qualification on day one with 71 hits from 75 targets, followed by the USA’s Chloe Chaleunsinh with 69 and Italy’s World Championship silver medallist Arianna Nember with 68. Individual Neutral Athletes Varvara Zaitseva and Kseniia Shuliak, along with India’s Agrima Kanwar, are tied at 67. Olympian Raiza Dhillon sits seventh with 65, alongside Yashasvi Rathore, also at 65.

The skeet qualification on Day 2 will continue on Saturday morning with 50 additional targets, after which the top six athletes in both men’s and women’s categories will advance to the finals.

Day 3 of the competition, scheduled for Saturday (Sep 27), will feature three finals: the 10m air pistol mixed team final at 11:00 AM, followed by the skeet men’s and women’s finals at 1:30 PM and 3:00 PM, respectively.