National champion Anish Bhanwala won the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol gold at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun in Sydney.
Bhanwala got the better of China’s Zhipeng Cheng 29-27 points in the 40-shot final. the Haryana teenager, who had in January broken the world record in the event with a score of 37 in the national trials -- world records established in national trials are not recognised -- topped the qualification round by a handsome distance, shooting 585. The second placed qualifier Jueming Zhang of China managed 579, a good six points behind.
In the final, Bhanwala and Zhipeng were fastest off the blocks, shooting four out of five after the first five-shot series and the Indian went ahead 9-8 after the second series itself, maintaining a gap of two points over the Chinese throughout to clinch the his first Junior World Cup gold.
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Bhanwala then teamed up with Anhad Jawanda and Adarsh Singh to win the team silver medal in the same event with a combined score of 1714 points, finishing behind China, who shot 1733.
Anhad and another Indian, Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu, also reached the individual finals, finishing fourth and sixth eventually.
With two more days of competition and five more finals to go, India are now placed second on the medal tally with six gold, three silver and six bronze medals, just below table toppers China, who have seven gold, four silver and six bronze medals.
