Shooting World Cup: Consistent final appearances, two golds, power India to strong finish

India secured a strong third-place finish at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Munich 2025, held at the Olympic Shooting range from June 8-15. The team earned two gold and two bronze medals, improving their position from joint third last year to sole third this year, while doubling their medal count from the previous Munich World Cup.

Rising women's pistol star Suruchi Phogat from Haryana achieved a remarkable feat by winning her third consecutive individual ISSF World Cup stage gold in the women's 10m air pistol, marking an unprecedented achievement since her World Cup debut in Buenos Aires this year. Arya Rajesh Borse and Olympian Arjun Babuta clinched a spectacular victory in the 10m air rifle mixed team final, defeating Chinese world record holders Sheng Lihao and Wang Zifei with a commanding score of 17-7.

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Elavenil Valarivan in women's 10m air rifle and Sift Kaur Samra in 50m rifle 3 positions women's category secured bronze medals, further establishing their positions among the world's top shooters.

"The Munich World Cup which is an annual feature of the International Shooting calendar and is held at the revered Olympic Shooting range, which hosted the sport at the 1972 Munich Olympics, has once again brought out the best in our rifle and pistol shooters," said K. Sultan Singh, Secretary General, National Rifle Association of India.



"When many were saying and quite rightly so, that India will find it very tough given the large field, quality of competition and the fact that some of our best were not part of the squad, our athletes have proven that the depth in Indian shooting is more formidable than ever before. On behalf of the NRAI, I congratulate the entire squad, including the coaches and support staff, for the amazing results, not only in Munich, but throughout the year," Singh added.

Elavenil Valarivan set a new qualification national record of 635.9 during her bronze-winning performance, while Suruchi Phogat equaled Manu Bhaker's qualification national mark of 588 in the women's air pistol. Three World Cup debutants from India showed promising performances in Munich. Ananya Naidu shot 632.4 to finish 13th in the women's 10m air rifle, while Nishant Rawat and Aditya Malra scored 582 and 578 to finish 10th and 27th respectively in the men's 10m air pistol.


India participated in seven finals out of ten events in Munich. Manu Bhaker in women's 25m pistol and Varun Tomar in men's 10m air pistol both finished sixth, while Chain Singh secured seventh place in men's 3P.

China topped the medal standings with seven medals, including four gold. Norway claimed second place, edging out India based on their silver medal count, as both nations had the same number of gold medals and total medals. The competition saw eleven nations, including individual neutral athletes, securing medals. The ISSF calendar continues with the fourth Shotgun World Cup stage in Lonato Del Garda, Italy, next month, followed by the final Rifle/Pistol World Cup in Ningbo, China, in September.

This performance marks India's third top-three finish this year in four World Cups, demonstrating the country's growing strength in international shooting competitions.

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