Suhl [Germany], May 24 (ANI): Teenager Naraen Pranav won bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle junior event to give India their second bronze and fifth medal of the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl. The Khelo India Youth Games champion shot 227.9 in the final to finish behind Braden Peiser (250.0) of the USA, who won silver. China’s Huang Liwanlin (250.3) won gold.
Shooting a final which had both, the reigning 3P junior world champion in Peiser- a rare southpaw in the sport, and the world championship silver medalist and junior Asian champion in the event Huang, along with the likes of 3P gold medalist from yesterday, Romain Aufrere, was never going to be easy.
To his credit, Naraen remain unfazed by the magnitude of the occasion and the quality of the field to deliver a confident and strong start to the 24-shot match-up, which eventually helped him bag the coveted medal.
He was in the lead after the first five-shot series. After the second, during which he had to account for reorganising his stance, he was third behind Huang, who had gone into the lead for the first time and local hope Florian Beer.
As the single shots began, Naraen momentarily went down to fourth, regained third spot after the 15th, but a 9.8 for his 17th saw him go down to fifth and in danger of elimination.
With Griffin Lake of the USA just 0.1 behind in sixth, Naraen in what was turning out to be a closely fought high quality final, shot a 10.4 as the American failed to register a shot in the allotted time.
It was as if the stroke of luck Naraen needed as he fired a 10.7 and followed it up with a 10.5, to account for Beer by 0.1 to snatch the medal. After 22 shots, he finished 1.1 behind Peiser and 1.2 behind the winner, Huang, to bow out.
Earlier, Naraen had shot a sizzling 632.1 to top the 77-field qualifying round, giving an early impression of the kind of shooting form he was in. (ANI)
