Shiva Narwal won gold in the 10m air pistol junior event, while Chirag Sharma took bronze and Panaah Bhugra claimed silver in air rifle at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Cairo, marking a strong start for India’s shooters
Published Date – 22 April 2026, 12:12 AM
Cairo (Egypt): Former Mixed Team World Champion Shiva Narwal marked his return after a three-year gap to claim gold in the 10m Air Pistol men’s junior event on Day One of competitions in the ISSF Junior World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun at the Egypt International Olympic City in Cairo on Tuesday.
Chirag Sharma accompanied Narwal on the podium by securing bronze, while Panaah Bhugra added a silver in the women’s 10m air rifle.
Narwal continued his form from the qualification to claim gold with 241.8, finishing 1.8 ahead of Uzbekistan’s Sodikjon Abdullaev, who secured silver. India’s Chirag Sharma completed the podium with 218.9, while Abhinav Deshwal, the other Indian in the final, finished seventh with 136.7.
Earlier in the qualification, Shiva qualified in top spot with a score of 576-19x, followed by Abhinav in third place with a score of 576-16x and Chirag, who qualified in fourth place, shooting 575-13x. Abhinav Choudhary (570-14x), Himanshu Rana (568-12x), and Abhay Dhama (567-17x) missed out on a spot in the finals.
In the women’s junior 10m air rifle event, Panaah Bhugra, who qualified for the final with a score of 629.4, maintained her place in the medal positions from the first series and showed consistency to eventually clinch the silver medal with a final score of 250.6. The French duo of Anceline Brackman and Helena Ecale secured gold and bronze with scores of 252.0 and 228.6, respectively.
Shambhavi Kshirsagar, who finished qualification in top spot with a high score of 634.0, finished outside the medal positions in fourth place with a score of 206.5. The third Indian in the final, Anvii Rathod, finished sixth with a score of 164.6.
Anvii qualified for the finals in sixth place with a score of 628.6, while the other Indians in the competition, Manyata Singh, scored 628.3 to finish in eighth place. With the rule of a maximum of three athletes per country, the three top-ranked athletes after the qualification round proceed to the final. Manyata missed out. Anushka Thokur (627.9) finished in ninth place, and Aneesha Sharma (627.1) finished in tenth place.
The 25m Pistol men’s and women’s precision round, along with the first 75 targets of skeet men and women, have also commenced at the first event for the juniors. The rapid stage and finals of the 25m Pistol women and 50 targets, and the finals of skeet men and women will be held tomorrow. The medals of the 25m Pistol men and 50m rifle prone for both men and women will also be decided tomorrow from the qualification round.
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