Indian Women Shooters Shine at Junior World Cup 2019

Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan showed her class yet again as she managed to defend her gold medal at the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, with a stunning performance in the final  of the women’s air rifle event on Monday.

Having shone in Italy where she clinched the Universiade silver, Valarivan registered a score of 251.6 in the final to defeat compatriot Mehuli Ghosh (250.2) by 1.4 point. It is interesting to know that Ghosh was the qualification topper while Elavenil had finished in eighth place for the final. She was competing in a strong pool of 124 shooters.

French shooter Oceanne Marianne Muller was in the lead for some time in the final. However, the two Indian teenagers proved to be too strong for Muller, as she settled for the bronze medal.

The duo then combined with compatriot Shreya Agrawal (who shot 625.4) to further bag the team gold with a junior world record score of 1883.3. 

As a result of the dominant show by the shooters, India topped the medals table with a tally of 6 gold, 6 silver and 2 bronze medals. Russia and Norway came in at a distant second with 2 gold medals apiece. There is a four-way tie for the third sport with Austria, Thailand, China, and Germany all winning one gold each.

Shooting : Young shooter Elavenil Valarivan signed off her junior career (U-21) on a high as the Indian defended her title at the #ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl. pic.twitter.com/Wgr6Y2QYtM

— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) July 16, 2019

Disappointment for the Trap team

In men’s Junior Trap, Bhowneesh Mendiratta registered a shot of 116 which was three points short of the 119 required for the finals. The Indian trio of Bhowneesh, Vivaan and Vishwa registered a total of 341, missing a medal by just two points. 

In women’s Junior Trap, Preeti Rajak and Kirti Gupta shot an identical score of 106 to be placed at the 16th and 15th position respectively. The duo also missed the final by three points in the process. Ayesha Khan managed a score of 91, placing her at the 39th spot in a field of 45. As a result, the Indian trap team finished at the 7th position.

Final Results

Junior women:

10m air rifle: 1. Elavenil Valarivan 251.6 (627.5); 2. Mehuli Ghosh

250.2 (630.4); 3. Oceanne Marianne Muller (Fra) 228.0 (628.2); 17.

Shreya Agrawal 625.4.

Team: 1. India 1883.3 WRJ; 2. Hungary 1880.0; 3. Singapore 1877.4.

50m pistol: 1. Nadezhda Koloda (Rus) 543; 2. Priya Raghav 535; 3.

Vibhuti Bhatia 531; 14. Harshada NIthave 491.

Team: 1. Russia 1559; 2. India 1557; 3. Belarus 1524