Anish Bhanwala finished atop the podium for India in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol at the ISSF Junior Shooting World Cup in Sydney on Monday.
Anish, 15, qualified for the final with the highest score. Then he beat two of his compatriots and three Chinese shooters to clinch the gold medal – his first at international level. He topped Cheng Zhipeng (27 total hits) and Zhang Jueming (23 total hits) with 29 total hits.
He lead the competition from the beginning and scored 585 points in the qualification. He was the only one to shoot a perfect five-hit series during the final. He had finished seventh in the same event at the ISSF World Cup Stage 1 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Two other Indians in the final — Anhad Jawanda and Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu — finished fourth and sixth respectively.
The team gold medal of the event, however, was pocketed by the Chinese, who set a new junior world record with 1733 points. Anish and his teammates – Anhad and Adarsh Singh – won silver. Their compatriots Sandhu, Japtyesh Singh Jaspal and Mandeep Singh clinched the bronze medal.
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