New Delhi: A 24-member strong Indian Junior Shooting squad, returned with a rich haul of two gold, five silver and two bronze medals from the prestigious Shooting Hopes competition, held between June 10 and June14 at Plzen, The Czech Republic. This is the International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) premiere event for juniors and was the 25thyear of the competition. It saw a total of 362 junior shooters from 20 countries participating.
Among the notable performers, Achal Pratap Grewal won the squad’s only individual Gold in 25m Pistol (Junior Men). In the team event for the same category, the Indian trio of Samarjit Singh, Shivam Shukla and Arjun Das also struck Gold. Additionally, Yashaswini Singh Deswal, Shreya Gawande, Gauri Sheoran among the women and Akhil Sheoran among the men returned with two medals each.
Commenting on the results, Raninder Singh, President, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said, “This is a great performance by the junior squad in a premiere global competition. These results are sometimes more satisfying than those of the seniors as they tell you that the future of the Shooting sport in India is in the pink of health. We on behalf of the NRAI wish all members of the squad many more successes in the coming years.”
The breakup of the medal winners is as follows:
Name |
Event |
Medal |
Achal Pratap Grewal |
25m Pistol- Junior Men |
Gold |
Team- Samarjit Singh, Shivam Shukla, Arjun Das |
25m Pistol- Junior Men |
Gold |
Team- Yashaswini Singh Deswal, Gauri Sheoran, Shreya Gawande |
10m Pistol- Junior Women |
Silver |
Sumedh Kumar |
10m Pistol- Junior Men |
Silver |
Team- Shreya Gawande, Gauri Sheoran, Chinki Yadav |
25m Pistol- Junior Women |
Silver |
Akhil Sheoran |
10m Rifle- Junior Men |
Silver |
Team- Akhil Sheoran, Pratik Borse, Prashant Prashant |
10m Rifle- Junior Men |
Silver |
Swapnil Suresh Kusale |
50m Rifle 3 Positions- Junior Men |
Bronze |
Yashaswini Singh Deswal |
10m Pistol- Junior Women |
Bronze |