Sports Bureau
NEW DELHI
Junior World Championship silver medallist Rundrankksh Patil stepped it up at the crunch and clinched the air rifle gold by beating compatriot Abhinav Shaw 17-13 in the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, on Wednesday.
After shooting 627.5 in qualification, the 18-year-old Rudrankksh shot 260.9 in the second stage to be comfortably ahead of the 14-year-old Abhinav Shaw, a trainee of the Lakshya Club, making his maiden international appearance.
Nils Palberg of Germany had to settle for the bronze, as he missed the fight for gold by 0.1 point. Paarth Makhija and Umamahesh Maddineni also did well to finish among the top seven in a field of 52 shooters.
In women’s air rifle, 18-year-old Ramita, a bronze medallist in the Junior World Championship in Peru last year, topped in the first two stages before being beaten to the gold 16-8 by Oceanne Muller of France. Ramita had shot 630.6 in qualification and 261.0 in the second stage, a creditable effort in a strong field of 86 shooters.
With a gold and two silver medals, India was on top of the medals table, ahead of France, Germany and Poland, accounting for 50% of the medals from the two events.
The results: 10m air rifle: Men: 1. Rudrankksh Patil 17 (260.9) 627.5; 2. Abhinav Shaw 13 (257.7) 626.7; 3. Nils Palberg (Ger) 257.6 (626.4); 5. Paarth Makhija 206.2 (627.8); 7. Umamahesh Maddineni 625.6.
Women: 1. Oceanne Muller (Fra) 16 (260.4) 629.9; 2. Ramita 8 (261.0) 630.6; 3. Juia Ewa Piotrowska (Pol) 259.0 (628.6); 17. Arya Borse 625.5; 22. Zeena Khitta 624.5; 43. Tillottamma Sen 620.8.
