Vivaan and Anantjeet light up India’s campaign in shooting World Cup Final

New Delhi: Two young shotgun marksmen from Jaipur, Vivaan Kapoor and Anantjeet Singh Naruka, lit up an otherwise lacklustre Indian campaign, winning a silver and a bronze on the concluding day of the year-ending ISSF World Cup Final here on Thursday.

Vivaan, the 22-year-old trap shooter and 26-year-old Olympian skeet marksman Anantjeet, clinched the biggest medals of their careers at the famed Karni Singh Range as the hosts ended the elite competition with two silver and an equal number of bronze medals. Vivaan, whose best performance so far had been three World Cup silver medals in the team event in 2022, shot 44 in the final as he was beaten to the gold by Paris Olympics silver medallist from China, Qi Ying, who shot 47.

Vivaan had earlier shot 120 out of 125 in the qualification round to finish third and make it to the six-shooter final.

“It is a significant confidence booster as this is my first individual medal in the senior circuit,” said the marksman.

Undaunted by the strong field, which also had the likes of Czech Republic’s David Kostelecky, the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist, and former world champion James Willett of Australia, Vivaan maintained his composure to miss only six targets out of 50 on way to silver.