Shooting World Cup: India’s Arya Borse, Arjun Babuta stun Olympic champions from China; clinch gold in 10m air rifle mixed team event | More sports News
Indian shooters Arya Borse and Arjun Babuta clinched the gold medal in the 10m air rifle mixed team event at the ISSF World Cup on Saturday, defeating Chinese Olympic and world champions Zifei Wang and Lihao Sheng with a commanding 17-7 score.The Indian pair qualified for the finals by scoring 635.2 in the qualifications, just marginally behind the Chinese duo’s world record score of 635.9.This victory marks India’s fourth medal and second gold in the ongoing World Cup, following Suruchi Singh’s gold and bronze medals won by Sift Kaur Samra and Elavenil in their individual events earlier this week.Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad and Jon-Hermann Hegg secured the bronze medal by defeating USA’s Sagen Maddalena and Peter Matthew Fiori 16-14.The other Indian pair of Elavenil Valarivan and Ankush Jadhav finished sixth in the qualifications with a score of 631.8.In the finals, despite conceding an early lead when Arya shot 9.8, the Indian duo dominated the match. They maintained exceptional consistency, with only one shot below 10.5 in the next seven series, building a substantial 13-3 lead after eight series.Although the Chinese pair managed to win the next two series narrowly, Borse and Babuta sealed their victory in the final rounds. Arjun matched Sheng with identical 10.1s, while Arya outperformed Wang with a 10.6 against 10.4.Earlier this year, Arya Borse had won a silver medal in the same event at the World Cup in Lima, Peru, partnering with Rudrankksh Patil.In the 10m air pistol mixed team event, Indian pairs showed mixed results. Manu Bhaker and Aditya Malra finished sixth with a total of 577 in qualifications, while Suruchi Singh and Varun Tomar placed tenth with 576.The gold-winning performance demonstrated the Indian team’s growing prowess in international shooting competitions, particularly against established champions.
