Cairo Dream! Anish Bhanwala Bags Coveted Silver In ISSF World Championships

India shooter Anish Bhanwala endured two nerve-wracking shoot-offs in a high-quality 25m rapid-fire pistol final to clinch the biggest medal of his shooting career, a silver at the ISSF World Championships,

Pistol/Rifle, on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Haryana marksman redeemed himself after his 2024 Paris Olympics disappointment with a steady performance that saw him first survive a shoot-off for third place and then overcome a challenge from Ukraine’s Maksym Horodynets to win the silver medal with a score of 28. This competition tested the resolve of all six finalists.

The Sonipat shooter was determined on Sunday as he first qualified for the finals in second place with a brilliant 585. After shooting 291 in Stage 1 of the qualification on Saturday, he came back determined to notch up 294 in Stage 2 on Sunday and make it to his first pistol final at the World Championships.

Frenchman Clement Bessaguet, who won gold with a tally of 31 points, topped the qualification with a score of 589.

In the final, Anish, for whom Cairo is a favourable ground having won the World Championships mixed team silver here in 2022 besides a few World Cup medals, was in the ‘zone’ as he shot a perfect five in the opening series.

The Indian, who finished 13th at the Paris Games, was placed second after the first three series of five shots each with a score of 16, while China’s Ni Zhixin led with 17 points. He maintained his momentum into the elimination round by shooting consecutive scores of 4 each, tying with three others on 20 points.

However, he faltered in the third elimination round, missing three targets to total 22 and fall back as Clement emerged a clear leader with a score of 25 points. Anish then survived a shoot-off with Germany’s Emanuel Mueller for third place and finally overcame Ukraine’s Maksym in the shoot-off for silver.

Anish’s achievement in the event is only second to Vijay Kumar’s silver-medal feat at the 2012 London Olympics.

The other Indians in the fray, Adarsh Singh (575 – 285+290) and Sameer (571 – 286+285) finished 22nd and 35th respectively. The Indian team, comprising Anish, Adarsh, and Sameer, finished fifth with a total score of 1731.