NEW DELHI: Young Indian shooter Samrat Rana produced a stunning display of composure and precision to clinch the men’s 10m air pistol gold, creating history at the ISSF World Championships on Monday.

The 20-year-old from Karnal became the first Indian pistol shooter in an Olympic discipline to be crowned world champion, and his triumph also powered India to the team gold in the event.

With three gold, three silver and as many bronze medals, India moved up from fifth to third on the medal table, while China led the standings with six gold, four silver and two bronze.

Samrat shot an impressive 243.7 in the final, edging out China’s Hu Kai, who settled for silver with 243.3 in a tense, closely fought battle.

Varun Tomar adds bronze as India script double podium finish

India’s Varun Tomar, hailing from a small village in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district and cousin of Olympian Saurabh Chaudhary, shot 221.7 to claim bronze in a gripping final where the lead changed hands several times.

Samrat, however, kept his calm and stuck to the basics, converting his junior-level success into a senior triumph at the same venue where he had won two junior golds in 2022. This also marked the first time two Indian shooters won medals in the same event at the World Championships.

Coached by his father since 2018, Samrat had been knocking on the doors of success at the senior level for over a year. A student of DAV College, Karnal, he had earlier won gold at the World University Championships and narrowly missed the ISSF World Cup final in Ningbo, China.

In qualification, Samrat led the field with a brilliant 586, while Varun matched the score but finished second due to fewer inner 10s. The third Indian, Shravan Kumar, shot 582 to finish 12th.

India’s trio of Samrat (586), Varun (586) and Shravan (582) aggregated 1754 points to clinch the team gold, ahead of Italy (1746) and Germany (1740).

Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh falter in women’s final

India’s top women’s pistol shooters Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh endured heartbreak in the women’s 10m air pistol final, failing to secure a medal despite strong starts.

Manu, the double Olympic medallist, was in contention for gold before a costly 8.8 on her 14th shot saw her tumble from the top to finish seventh with 139.5. Esha, fresh off a World Cup gold in Ningbo, shot an 8.4 at the same stage and ended sixth.

India, however, claimed team silver with Esha (583), Manu (580) and world No.1 Suruchi Inder Singh (577) combining for a total of 1740 points.

Esha had entered the final with a strong qualification performance, shooting a perfect 100 in the third series to finish fourth, while Manu’s 580 placed her sixth. The 19-year-old Suruchi, a four-time World Cup gold medallist this year, finished 14th among 99 shooters with 577.

(With PTI Inputs)