India shines at Deaflympics: Abhinav–Pranjali strike gold, Kushagra adds bronze
India’s shooting contingent has now amassed 11 medals at the Games.
India’s shooting contingent has now amassed 11 medals at the Games.
India’s shooting contingent has now amassed 11 medals at the Games.
Tokyo: Indian shooters extended their impressive performance at the 25th Deaflympics on Wednesday, with Abhinav Deshwal and Pranjali Prashant Dhumal claiming gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event, while Kushagra Singh Rajawat secured a bronze in the 50m rifle prone.
India’s shooting contingent has now amassed 11 medals at the Games.
Abhinav and Pranjali delivered a commanding 16–6 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Ya-Ju Kao and Ming-Jui Hsu in the final. Earlier in qualifying, they had matched their own Deaf World and Olympic record, scoring 569-20x — Abhinav contributing 287-12x (97, 95, 95) and Pranjali 282-8x (95, 94, 93). Both had also won individual silver medals on Monday.
In the rifle event, Kushagra finished third with a score of 224.3. Ukraine’s Dmytro Petrenko clinched gold with a record-breaking 251.0, while Germany’s Colin Mueller took silver with 245.4.
India’s second mixed pistol pair — women’s individual champion Anuya Prasad and Rudar Vinod Kumar — ended seventh in qualification with 553-10x. Anuya shot 280-5x (93, 91, 96), and Rudar posted 273-5x (92, 90, 91). Iran’s Mahla Samiee and Bijan Ghaffari claimed bronze after defeating Ukraine’s Sofiia Olenych and Oleksandr Kolodii.
Meanwhile, Mahit Sandhu and Natasha Joshi are set to compete in the women’s 50m 3 Positions event on Thursday. Mahit has already bagged a gold in the 10m air rifle mixed team event and a silver in the individual category.