Ramita crowned 10m air-rifle junior world champion

CAIRO: India’s Ramita was on Wednesday crowned world champion in the women’s 10m air-rifle junior event after she defeated China’s Ying Shen 16-12 in a close gold medal contest at the ISSF World Championship here.

Ramita’s gold and a 1-2-3 finish by the Indians in the women’s 50m pistol junior competition were the highlights for the country on the seventh competition day at the Egypt International Olympic City (EIOC) Shooting Range, taking the nation’s tally to 25 medals – 10 gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals. India stood second behind China in the medal table.

Ramita was tied 12-12 in the gold medal clash against Ying, but finished off with two strong shots of 10.8 and 10.7 to clinch the crown. She was fourth in qualification with 629.6, but topped the ranking round with a 262.8 to make it to the gold medal match against Ying. The Chinese was second in the ranking round with 262.4.

Tilottama Sen won a second medal for India at the event – a bronze – after she shot 261.0 in the ranking round to finish third. Earlier, she had topped qualification with a sizzling 633.4, which equals the current listed world record in the event.

Meanwhile, the India girls swept the women’s 50m pistol junior event after Divanshi topped the field with a score of 547, Varsha Singh came second with 539 and Tiyana finished third with 523. The fourth place was also captured by India, with Khushi Kapoor shooting 521.

Rhythm Sangwan won silver in the women’s 25m standard pistol, shooting 573 to finish behind China’s Xiao Jiaruixuan, who shot 575. A second silver medal came via Abhinav Choudhary, who shot 546 in the men’s 50m pistol junior event to go down narrowly to Korea’s Song Seungho.