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“Indian shooting in safe hands,” declared Abhinav Bindra, the only Olympic gold medallist for India, after India’s young shooters performed stupendously in the year-opening ISSF World Cup.
India topped the medals tally for the very first time in an International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) competition, after finishing the World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun stage held in Mexico with four gold, one silver and four bronze for a total of nine medals. The exploits of young guns like Shahzar Rizvi, Manu Bhaker, Akhil Sheoran, Om Prakash Mitharval, Anjum Moudgil and Mehuli Ghosh is the much talked-about topic after this competition. Along with them, Jitu Rai, and Ravi Kumar won bronze while Sanjeev Rajput finished a close fourth.
It all began with Shahzar Rizvi’s gold in 10m Air Pistol Men. 23-year old Shahzar is not picked for the Commonwealth Games 2018. But he showed tremendous accuracy by finishing first with a world record score in the final. Veteran Jitu Rai won the bronze in the same event.
After two bronze-winning performance by Ravi Kumar in 10m Air Rifle Men and Mehuli Ghosh in 10m Air Rifle Women, came the most acclaimed moment.
The 16-year girl from Jharkhand, Manu Bhaker, won the gold in 10m Air Pistol Women. Manu’s forward march from a small town in Haryan to the top of world shooting is noteworthy. Manu started shooting just two years back but her shot of 10.8 that won her the gold reflected her competitive nature. Manu’s second gold came along with Omprakash Mithraval in the mixed 10m Air Pistol. They beat the experienced German pair of Sandra and Christan Reitz.
The mixed team of Mehuli Ghosh and Deepak Kumar brought another bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event. They shot 435.1 and defeated Romania.
In the midst of this Anjum Moudgill claimed silver in the 50m Rifle Three Positions. 24-year old Anjum defeated Sun Ting of China. Moudgill also got to the 10m air rifle final, but finished fourth.
And the final glory came with the gold medal win of Akhil Shearon in 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men. Akhil put behind the disappointment of not being picked for Rio Olympic Games to win the event.
Medal Winners:
| NAME | MEDAL | EVENT |
| MANU BHAKER | Gold | 10m Air Pistol Women |
| MANU BHAKER & OMPRAKASH MITHRAVAL | Gold | 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team |
| SHAHZAR RIZVI | Gold | 10m Air Pistol Men |
| AKHIL SHEARON | Gold | 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men |
| ANJUM MOUDGILL | Silver | 50m Rifle Three Positions |
| MEHULI GHOSH | Bronze | 10m Air Rifle Women |
| MEHULI GHOSH & DEEPAK KUMAR | Bronze | 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team |
| RAVI KUMAR | Bronze | 10m Air Rifle Men |
| JITU RAI | Bronze | 10m Air Pistol Men |
