Jonathan Antony outclasses the field in air pistol final

Silver medallist Rashmika Sahgal takes a selfie with champion Evelina Sheina and Fatemeh Shekari in the Junior World Cup in Delhi on Friday.
| Photo Credit:
Kamesh Srinivasan

Jonathan Antony came up with a startling performance to outclass the field as he beat Luca Arrighi of Italy with a 8.5 point margin for the air pistol gold in the Junior World Cup at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Friday.

The 16-year-old Karnataka lad, who has Khel Ratna awardee and Olympic finalist Jitu Rai as his guru, shot an Olympic record score of 244.8, after having top-scored in the qualification with an equally impressive 586.

It was only his second international competition after the recent Asian Championship in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, where Jonathan won the individual junior bronze, and mixed team silver with Vanshika Chaudhary, apart from the boys team silver.

“I am very happy with the way I shot today. In the final, I was a little nervous initially. Once I saw that I had a five-point lead, I relaxed, as it was a piece of cake!” said Jonathan, even as he was reminded that he had possibly missed a world record.

The world junior record stands in the name of the Asian Games gold medallist, Saurabh Chaudhary, at 246.3, when he won the gold in the Munich World Cup in 2019.

Interestingly, in the last National Games in Dehradun earlier this year, Jonathan had beaten Saurabh Chaudhary for the last spot in the men’s final, when the two tied on 578. Jonathan went on to bag the gold, beating a strong field that included Olympic medalist Sarabjot Singh among others.

Chirag Sharma also made the final on Friday with 578, but finished eighth.

In women’s air pistol, Rashmika Sahgal kept the home fans in good humour by winning the silver, as Evelina Sheina topped for the gold with a 4.8 point margin.

Vanshika Choudhary and Mohini Singh shot the best qualification score of 576, but ended up fifth and sixth respectively.

In skeet, Harmehar Singh Lally (74) and Mansi Raghuwanshi (73) led the field in the junior men’s and women’s sections respectively, after three rounds. Two more rounds on Saturday will be followed by the finals for the top-six.

India was on top of the medals table after two days, with two gold, three silver and two bronze. The team of Individual Neutral Athletes was second with two gold. Italy has a silver, while Spain and Iran have a bronze each.

The results: 10m air pistol: Junior men: 1. Jonathan Antony 244.8 (586); 2. Luca Arrighi (Ita) 236.3 (572); 3. Lucas Sanchez (Esp) 215.1 (573); 8. Chirag Sharma 115.6 (578);14. Kapil 567; 16. Dhairya Prashar 565; 18. Vijay Tomar 564.

Junior women: 1. Evelina Sheina (AIN) 240.9 (570); 2. Rashmika Sahgal 236.1 (573); 3. Fatemeh Shekari (Iri) 213.8 (567); 5. Vanshika Chaudhary 174.2 (576); 6. Mohini Singh 153.7 (576); Ranking Points Only: Lakshita 573; Urva Chaudhary 569.