The FISU World University Championship Shooting became a platform where India’s young shooting stars showcased their remarkable prowess, capturing the spotlight with an impressive haul of 24 medals—9 gold, 9 silver, and 6 bronze.
This stellar performance highlights the depth of talent within India’s university-level shooters, proving they are primed to become the next big names on the international stage
The Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, New Delhi saw a star-studded field with Olympians Aishwarya Pratap Singh, Sift Kaur Samra, Audrey Gogniat, Jiří Přívratský participate.
Here’s a recap of some exceptional performances by our shooters:
Bhavtegh Singh Gill stands out as the only individual gold medallist
Bhavtegh delivered India’s lone individual gold in skeet in a dramatic final that kept spectators on edge.
After holding a comfortable lead, a brief stumble toward the end opened a window for his Cypriot opponent to make a comeback.
Yet, Bhavtegh’s calm under pressure was unshakeable. He held his nerve in the shoot-off, clinching victory with a 2-1 scorelineand securing the top spot on the podium.
This thrilling win not only showcased his skill but added yet another impressive accolade to his growing list of achievements.
Collective wins shine as team events amplifies medal count
Team events provided a medal hunting ground to grab maximum medals and boost the medal tally.
Starting with the pistol contingent, they had a fabulous outing with Palak Gulia, Amit Sharma, Sainyam, Samrat Rana, Aakash Bharadwaj and Arshdeep Kaur winning multiple medals.
In the 10m air pistol (W) qualifications, the trio of Palak Gulia/Arshdeep Kaur/Sainyam shot a cumulative score of 1723 with 55 inner ten shots, way ahead of Chinese Taipei and Korean team to comfortably take the team gold.
Similarly, the team of Aakash Bhardwaj/Samrat Rana/Amit Sharma in the 10m air pistol (M) shot a total of 1732 with impressive 62 inner 10 shots to secure the gold medal with immense precision.
The 10m mixed team finals was an all-Indian final, with Palak Gulia/Amit Sharma securing the gold over Sainyam/Samrat Rana with a score of 16-12.
In the 25m air pistol (W), Simranpreet Kaur Brar had a great rapid and precision series score propelling the team for a gold medal along with Palak Gulia and Arshdeep Kaur. Raajwardan Ashutosh Paatil/Rajkanwar Singh
Sandhu/Sameerhad to content with the silver medal in the 25m rapid fire pistol.
The rifle contingent did exceptionally well with Aishwary Tomar, Sanjeeta Das and Manini Kaushik taking the spotlight winning multiple medals.
The experience of Aishwary Pratap Tomar definitely helped to clinch the team gold in the 10m air rifle along with Smit Moradiya and Umamahesh Maddineni, and the mixed rifle team gold along with Sanjeeta Das.
Aishwary was also the part of the gold winning 50m air rifle team with Adriyan Karmakar and Parikshit Singh Brar.
Following the path of the men’s team, the women’s 10m air rifle team grabbed the gold medal with a total of 1888.4, two points ahead of the Polish team (1886.4).
The trio of Sift Kaur Samra/ Manini Kaushik/ Vanshika Shahi took the silver in the 50m rifle 3P women’s team event.
Bhavtegh spearheaded the team of Abhay Singh Sekhon/ Harmehar Singh to yet another gold in the skeet men’s team event.
The women’s team of Yashasvi Rathore/Mansi Raghuvanshi/ Vanshika Tiwari grabbed the bronze.
The mixed team event in trap shooting saw Indian team have a second and third finish as Kirti Gupta/Jungsher Singh won silver medal and Aashima Ahlawat/Bakhtyarudden Malek wonbronze medal.
Individual medallists in spotlight, displaying excellence
The impressive performance in the individual events cannot be sidelined, considering how notable Olympians and world record holders were a part of this University Championships.
Palak (10m APW) and Smit(10m ARM) had a very close shot to gold but eventually had to content with silver medals with a 0.3 and 0.1 difference respectively. Smit did give his all in the final before losing out to Jiri Privatsky.
Pistol events also saw Arshdeep Kaur (10m APW), Simranpreet Kaur (25m APW) win bronze and Aakash Bhardwaj (10m APM) win silver.
Aishwary Pratap Singh in his dominant event 50m 3P finals finished with a silver after shooting 458.2.
Women’s trap shooting again found two Indians on the podium as Neeru and Kirti won the silver and bronze medals.Yashasvi Rathore picked up the bronze in the skeet event.
Joining Bhavtegh on the podium of men’s skeet was Abhay Singh Sekhon with a bronze.
Overall our shooters proved their mettle on an international stage, making India proud with their extraordinary performance.
Their dedication and success set a strong foundation for future competitions.
