Mukesh bags 7 medals as Gun for Glory Academy shooters shine at the ISSF Junior World Championships

pupils from Gun for Glory Acemy have once again me entire country and acemy proud with ir stern efforts and achievements at 2024 ISSF Junior World Championships in Peru. Eight of students - Mukesh Nelavalli, Gautami Bhanot Anushka Thokur, Abhinav Shaw, Vibhuti Bhatia, Vedant Waghmare, Raajwardan Patil, Chandra Raj and Khushi proudly contributed to India’s medal tally by winning a combined 16 medals at tournament.

Mukesh’s campaign at this year’s Junior World Championships has been quite impressive, with youngster bagging a total of seven medals. He won a gold each in 10m Air Pistol Junior Team, Junior Men’s 25m Sports Pistol, 25m Sports Pistol Men Team Junior, 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men’s Junior Team, and 25m Std Pistol Men’s Junior Team respectively. Or than five gold medals, rising star also bagged bronze medals in Junior Men’s 25m Std Pistol and 50m Free Pistol Men Junior categories. Mukesh also finished 4th in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event and 9th in 10m Air Pistol qualification, narrowly missing final by just two inner tens.

Expressing his emotions on this victory Mukesh said, “It is indeed a glorified moment for me as winning a gold medal is for country is a dream of every athlete. To be able to do it five times at such an initial stage of my sporting career makes it even more special and has me me even more motivated to do well in next events and tournaments. My acemy Gun for Glory, which is run by Olympic medalist Gagan Narang has played a huge role in this achievement and my success as a shooter. A huge thanks to my coach for believing in me, this wouldn’t have been possible at all without all your support and teachings.”

18-year-old shooter Gautami Bhanot was anor of shooters to have h a historic run in tournament. Having bagged a gold medal at tournament last year in 10M Air Rifle Mixed team category, Bhanot won a bronze medal in same event this year. She n paired up with her fellow acemy student Anushka to bag a gold medal in 10M Air Rifle Women’s team category by achieving best score by an Indian athlete in ISSF World Championship in event: 634.7. She also finished 4th in 10m Air Rifle Women’s final.

Five more gold medals came from our acemy shooters as Abhinav, Vibhuti, Vedant, Raajwardan and Chandra emerged on top of table in ir respective events. Sakshi Pekar also me history by achieving highest score of 590 by an Indian shooter in 50m 3P event at any ISSF Junior World Championships. Raajwardan Patil missed out on a second podium after finishing 4th in 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Final. Vedant Waghmare narrowly missed final by just one inner ten and finished 9th in qualification round of event.

"We are proud of athletes who are carrying dreams of 1.4 billion Indians on ir shoulders and have fulfilled ir hopes. I feel great and honored to be a part of this process of training young athletes through our initiatives at Gun for Glory Shooting Acemy. acemy provides necessary framework and facilities for young shooters and prepares m for global challenges and competitive environments and result is in front of you. It is a matter of pride for our acemy to produce 8 medalists and 16 medals at ISSF Junior World Championships and we are very sure that this number will only increase in future. India has a lot of talented shooters, all we need to do is find m and cater to ir needs, for m to emerge as global icons. This is our aim at Gun for Glory and we have been working extensively towards achieving it,” said 2012 London Olympics silver medalist Gagan Narang, who is also director of Gun for Glory acemy.

Compared to 2023 when Gun for Glory Acemy sent seven athletes who cliched 8 medals, re was a stark increase in performance.

Indian shooters indeed h a glorified campaign at ISSF Junior World Championship, having bagged a total of 13 gold, 3 silver and 8 bronze medals. With this stupendous medal count, junior shooters me country bag first position in medal tally, with a total of 24 medals.