New Delhi, September 5
Pranjali Dhumal clinched bronze in Women's 25m Pistol event, to take India's tally to 13 medals (three gold, six silver and four bronze) after day four of the 2nd World Deaf Shooting Championship 2024 being held in Hanover, Germany.
Pranjali qualified for the finals after shooting a deaf world record and deaf world championship record of 571. In the finals, she hit three out of five shots in the eighth series to edge out Lana Skeledzija by a single point to secure the bronze medal. She finished with a score of 29 behind the Ukrainian pair of Sofiia Olenych and Halyna Mosina who secured gold and silver respectively.
Anuya Prasad finished fifth in the finals with a score of 21 after she had qualified with a score of 558. The third Indian shooter, Vedika Sharma ended the qualification with a score of 473. The 16-member Indian Deaf Shooting team made a bright start to the 2nd World Deaf Shooting Championship.
Anuya Prasad won gold in the women's 10m Air Pistol while India also had a double podium finish in the men's 10m Air Pistol with Abhinav Deshwal winning silver and Shubham Vashist winning bronze as the duo also teamed up with Chetan Sakpal to clinch the team silver in the event, as per a press release by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
The Championship goes on till September 7, 2024, and Indian shooters will compete in the Air Rifle and Air Pistol disciplines. The squad, which includes such top shooters like Dhanush Srikanth, is also accompanied by an interpreter and coaches Preeti Sharma (Pistol) and Sanjeev Rajput (Rifle).
Earlier on Friday, NRAI and ITC Maurya in New Delhi hosted a star-studded evening and felicitated the Indian Olympic shooting contingent.
All three Olympic winners (Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh, and Swapnil Kusale) and other participants were felicitated with rewards and mementoes. The evening ended with the Olympic and shooting-themed cake-cutting ceremony.