India cements top spot as Prachi, Vanshika win gold at ISSF Junior World Cup

Prachi Gaikwad struck gold on Thursday, winning the junior women’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) event at the ongoing ISSF shooting Junior World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun in Cairo, Egypt, firing 354.6 in the final to overcome Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) Darya Chuprys who shot 354.4.

Another AIN shooter Elena Kretinina, won bronze with a score of 343.3, exiting the 35-shot final after the 34th shot. Naraen Pranav also won bronze in the junior men’s 10m air rifle with a score of 229.5 in the final.

India won a second gold on the day, its third of the campaign so far, when Vanshika Chaudhary and Sejal Kamble finished 1-2 in the junior women’s 10m air pistol final, delivering a third double podium finish for the squad.

Vanshika shot 241.3, while Sejal ended with 239.6 after the 24-shot final, cementing India’s position at the top of the medal tally with a haul of three gold, four silver and three bronze medals as competition day three drew to a close. Liao Ke Rong of Chinese Taipei won bronze with a tally of 218.3 after 22 shots.

Vanshika, who had won a silver in the Asian Championships at home earlier in the year, struck a first junior world cup gold. It was also Sejal’s second silver of competition, having finished second in the women’s 25m pistol a couple of days back.

Prachi was the only Indian to qualify for the junior women’s 3P final at the Olympic International City Shooting range. She took sixth spot with a score of 578 and then began the final placing fifth after the first 10 shots in the Kneeling position. 

Naraen Pranav also won bronze in the junior men’s 10m air rifle with a score of 229.5 in the final.
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Thereafter she surged to second after the Prone round and was just 0.6 behind Darya, who was leading at that stage. With a 50+ return on the first five shots of the final Standing position, she shot into the lead for the first time in the match.

But Darya found a second wind and fired a 51.0 over the next five, as Prachi missed the 10-ring four times, going down to third momentarily with the last five shots remaining.

The minor setback did not deter the Indian as she delivered when it mattered most, hitting the 10-ring four times, including two high 10s, to clinch it from Darya by a margin of 0.2.

Published on Apr 23, 2026