Anish Bhanwala Clinches Historic Silver at ISSF World Championship in Cairo, Arjun Babuta Finishes Seventh in Air Rifle

New Delhi, Nov 9: India's Olympian Anish Bhanwala produced a spectacular display of resilience and precision to clinch the silver medal in the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event on Day 2 of the ISSF World

Championship Rifle/Pistol 2025 in Cairo.

The 23-year-old survived four intense shoot-offs to claim his first-ever senior individual world championship medal, marking one of the most hard-fought podium finishes by an Indian shooter in recent times.

Anish showed remarkable composure in pressure situations, surviving double shoot-offs against Emanuel Mueller (Germany) for fourth place and Maksym Horodynets (Ukraine) for a place in the final series. In the gold medal match-up, Clement Bessaguet of France proved too strong, converting his back-to-back silver medals from previous editions into a well-deserved gold, while Horodynets settled for bronze.

Speaking after the win, Anish expressed the magnitude of the moment: "It is difficult to explain in words but the feeling is completely unreal. I have tried a lot of times before; my preparation has been good but I could not deliver when it came to the competition. This time I was better prepared in my training and things worked out in my favour," he told ISSF.

The Indian shooter also confirmed qualification for the ISSF World Cup Final scheduled in Doha next month.

Earlier, Anish qualified second for the six-man final with 585-22x over two days. His consistent shooting - including a perfect opening series and crucial shoot-offs - demonstrated both endurance and elite-level control. In the final round, Anish needed a perfect five to challenge Bessaguet's 29 hits but managed three, confirming the Frenchman's victory and India's silver success.

In other events, the Air Rifle Mixed Teams missed out on the medal matches. The pair of Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan finished eighth with 632.3, narrowly missing fourth place by 1.6 points, while Rudrankksh Patil and Shreya Agrawal placed 21st with 628.8.

Meanwhile, Arjun Babuta had opened India's campaign on a strong note on Day 1 (Nov 8), finishing seventh in the Men's 10m Air Rifle finals. The 26-year-old shot 145.0 in the finals after qualifying with 632.5, in a field that saw Germany's Maximilian Dallinger clinch gold, Sweden's Victor Lindgren secure silver, and China's Olympic champion Sheng Lihao take bronze.

Arjun started with steady series scores of 51.9 and 52.3, but a 9.7 in the 11th round cost him dearly, resulting in early elimination. India's shooting challenge continues on November 10, with Suruchi Singh, Manu Bhaker, and Esha Singh set to compete in the Women's 10m Pistol event.

Fans can follow live coverage of the ISSF World Championship finals on the ISSF YouTube channel, and stay updated via @officialnrai on X and Instagram.

ISSF World Championship 2025 - Day 2 Highlights (Cairo)

Event	Medal	Athlete	Country	Score / Details
25m Rapid Fire Pistol	🥈 Silver	Anish Bhanwala	🇮🇳 India	Survived 4 shoot-offs, final score 28
25m Rapid Fire Pistol	🥇 Gold	Clement Bessaguet	🇫🇷 France	29 hits
25m Rapid Fire Pistol	🥉 Bronze	Maksym Horodynets	🇺🇦 Ukraine	27 hits
10m Air Rifle Finals	7th	Arjun Babuta	🇮🇳 India	145.0
10m Air Rifle Mixed Team	8th	Arjun Babuta / Elavenil Valarivan	🇮🇳 India	632.3
10m Air Rifle Mixed Team	21st	Rudrankksh Patil / Shreya Agrawal	🇮🇳 India	628.8