ISSF Junior World Championship: India’s Naamya Kapoor, 14, Wins Women’s 25m Pistol Gold

India’s 14-year-old shooter Naamya Kapoor fired her way to the gold medal ahead of her celebrated compatriot Manu Bhaker in the women’s 25m pistol event of the ISSF Junior world Championship on Monday. Kapoor shot 36 in the finals to claim the top prize ahead of France’s Camille Jedrzejewski (33) and 19-year-old Olympian Bhakar (31), who has already won three gold so far in the tournament. Bhaker settled for bronze after the French markswoman prevailed in a shoot-off. Another Indian shooter, Rhythm Sangwan, finished fourth as the country dominated the finals.

Kapoor was sixth in the qualification with a total of 580 as Bhaker (587) and Sangwan (586) grabbed the top two spots. Delhi’s Kapoor had shot the second best score of 583 in qualification to finish fifth in the national shooting selection trials at the Dr Karni Singh Range in August.

India lead standings with seven gold, six silver and three bronze for a total of 16 medals. This is the first multi-discipline shooting event since the Tokyo Olympics, with as many as 32 nations and nearly 370 athletes participating in the championship.