Jr Champ Mane Announces Arrival on Big Stage

Junior world champion Parth Rakesh Mane was shooting in a world of his own during the 10m air rifle final at the National Games, oblivious of the fact that the competition included two Paris Olympians and the 2022 world champion.

- Avishek Roy

DEHRADUN: Junior world champion Parth Rakesh Mane was shooting in a world of his own during the 10m air rifle final at the National Games, oblivious of the fact that the competition included two Paris Olympians and the 2022 world champion.

After 10 shots, Mane jumped into the lead with 106.3 points. The 17-year-old had logged 10.6 or more in eight of his 10 shots to firmly put himself on course to clinch the gold medal. With a perfect 10.9 squeezed in between, he was more than two points ahead of second-placed Rudrankksh Patil (104.1).

The steady domination continued till the end. Only once did Mane drop to the second place, but he quickly regained his place at the top and scored a total of 252.6 points to clinch the gold.

Patil was snapping at Parth's heels. He fought back from the brink of elimination, and even chased down Parth at the top before eventually finishing with silver with 252.1 points.

Paris Olympic finalist Arjun Babuta finished fourth - a position that continues to haunt him. Kiran Ankush Jadhav won the bronze. Meanwhile, another Paris Olympian Sandeep Singh was pushed to sixth place.