Two young shotgun marksmen from Jaipur, Vivaan Kapoor and Anantjeet Singh Naruka, lit up an otherwise lacklustre Indian campaign, winning a silver and a bronze on the concluding day of the year-ending ISSF World Cup Final here on Thursday. Vivaan, the 22-year-old trap shooter and 26-year-old Olympian skeet marksman Anantjeet, clinched the biggest medals of their careers at the famed Karni Singh Range as the hosts ended the elite competition with two silver and an equal number of bronze medals.
Vivaan, whose best performance so far had been three World Cup silver medals in the team event in 2022, shot 44 in the final as he was beaten to the gold by Paris Olympics silver medallist from China, Qi Ying, who shot 47.
Vivaan had earlier shot 120 out of 125 in the qualification round to finish third and make it to the six-shooter final.
"It is a significant confidence booster as this is my first individual medal in the senior circuit," said the marksman.
Undaunted by the strong field, which also had the likes of Czech Republic's David Kostelecky, the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist, and former world champion James Willett of Australia, Vivaan maintained his composure to miss only six targets out of 50 on way to silver.
"I told myself that I am competing at the same level as them (top shooters). So I am not second to anyone, this is how one wins," he said after the match.
It was a fortuitous meeting with a father's friend that sparked his desire to become a shotgun shooter.
"It was my father's college reunion where one of his friends noticed my enthusiasm for shooting and convinced my dad to put me into shooting," said Vivaan, who idolises the legendary Kuwaiti trap marksman Khaled Al-Mudhaf, his coach now, and Vincent Hancock, the four-time Olympic skeet champion from the United States.
Naruka gave an equally commanding performance in the men's skeet final but was unlucky to finish with a bronze medal, partly due to the malfunction in the clay target machines, which upset his rhythm.
Twice during the final, a snag in the clay target-throwing machine just when Anantjeet was about to take aim, saw the tall marksman having to wait for a few minutes for the issue to be resolved.
He finally shot 43 to finish third, while Italy's Tammaro Cassandro, a three-time World Championship gold medallist in team event, and country-mate Gabriele Rossetti, the 2016 Rio Olympic champion, clinched the top two positions with scores of 57 and 56 respectively.
The contest for the gold went down to the wire after Rossetti, who was leading his country-mate by a point at that time, missed a target. He contested the decision saying it was a 'no bird' as the clay target had apparently dipped sharply and not taken the correct trajectory.
However, the objection was overruled by the jury at the range despite opposition from his coach, which brought him on par with Cassandro, who ultimately went on to win gold after Rossetti missed his last shot in the final.
Anantjeet, while happy at finally breaking the jinx of not winning a World Cup medal so far and finishing fourth at the Paris Olympics in the mixed skeet event with Maheshwari Chauhan, was, however, a little frustrated with the two malfunctions when he was taking aim.
"When a 'no target' comes, it breaks your rhythm, and then you have to restart. I kept telling myself that silver or gold is another stage, I have to just concentrate on the next target."
Talking about the fourth-place finish in Paris, he said, "I haven't got over that heartbreak. Those flashbacks keep coming. It's hard to lose when you come so close to winning an Olympic medal in your first Games. But you always learn from your mistakes and I didn't want to repeat it here.
"When shooters were getting eliminated one after the other on the final today, I just prayed it shouldn't happen to me again after what had happened to me in Paris," said the Hangzhou Asian Games silver medallist.
In women's skeet, Ganemat Sekhon finished sixth in the final. Samantha Simonton of the USA won gold with a score of 56, edging out Italian double Olympic champion Diana Bacosi who shot 54. France's Lucie Anastassiou won bronze.
In women's trap final, San Marino athlete Alessandra Perilli won gold with an effort of 45, which saw her finish ahead of silver-winning Italian Erica Sessa by a huge six points. Turkey's Safiye Temizdemir bagged the bronze.
Vivaan, whose best performance so far had been three World Cup silver medals in the team event in 2022, shot 44 in the final as he was beaten to the gold by Paris Olympics silver medallist from China, Qi Ying, who shot 47.
Vivaan had earlier shot 120 out of 125 in the qualification round to finish third and make it to the six-shooter final.
"It is a significant confidence booster as this is my first individual medal in the senior circuit," said the marksman.
Undaunted by the strong field, which also had the likes of Czech Republic's David Kostelecky, the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist, and former world champion James Willett of Australia, Vivaan maintained his composure to miss only six targets out of 50 on way to silver.
"I told myself that I am competing at the same level as them (top shooters). So I am not second to anyone, this is how one wins," he said after the match.
It was a fortuitous meeting with a father's friend that sparked his desire to become a shotgun shooter.
"It was my father's college reunion where one of his friends noticed my enthusiasm for shooting and convinced my dad to put me into shooting," said Vivaan, who idolises the legendary Kuwaiti trap marksman Khaled Al-Mudhaf, his coach now, and Vincent Hancock, the four-time Olympic skeet champion from the United States.
Naruka gave an equally commanding performance in the men's skeet final but was unlucky to finish with a bronze medal, partly due to the malfunction in the clay target machines, which upset his rhythm.
Twice during the final, a snag in the clay target-throwing machine just when Anantjeet was about to take aim, saw the tall marksman having to wait for a few minutes for the issue to be resolved.
He finally shot 43 to finish third, while Italy's Tammaro Cassandro, a three-time World Championship gold medallist in team event, and country-mate Gabriele Rossetti, the 2016 Rio Olympic champion, clinched the top two positions with scores of 57 and 56 respectively.
The contest for the gold went down to the wire after Rossetti, who was leading his country-mate by a point at that time, missed a target. He contested the decision saying it was a 'no bird' as the clay target had apparently dipped sharply and not taken the correct trajectory.
However, the objection was overruled by the jury at the range despite opposition from his coach, which brought him on par with Cassandro, who ultimately went on to win gold after Rossetti missed his last shot in the final.
Anantjeet, while happy at finally breaking the jinx of not winning a World Cup medal so far and finishing fourth at the Paris Olympics in the mixed skeet event with Maheshwari Chauhan, was, however, a little frustrated with the two malfunctions when he was taking aim.
"When a 'no target' comes, it breaks your rhythm, and then you have to restart. I kept telling myself that silver or gold is another stage, I have to just concentrate on the next target."
Talking about the fourth-place finish in Paris, he said, "I haven't got over that heartbreak. Those flashbacks keep coming. It's hard to lose when you come so close to winning an Olympic medal in your first Games. But you always learn from your mistakes and I didn't want to repeat it here.
"When shooters were getting eliminated one after the other on the final today, I just prayed it shouldn't happen to me again after what had happened to me in Paris," said the Hangzhou Asian Games silver medallist.
In women's skeet, Ganemat Sekhon finished sixth in the final. Samantha Simonton of the USA won gold with a score of 56, edging out Italian double Olympic champion Diana Bacosi who shot 54. France's Lucie Anastassiou won bronze.
In women's trap final, San Marino athlete Alessandra Perilli won gold with an effort of 45, which saw her finish ahead of silver-winning Italian Erica Sessa by a huge six points. Turkey's Safiye Temizdemir bagged the bronze.
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