The mango that broke a market
It is peak mango season in India. The Alphonso harvest is at its richest, the Kesar at its most fragrant.
Olympian Arjun Babuta and Arya Rajesh Borse put up a brilliant display of accurate air rifle shooting, to dominate China’s world record holder pairing of Sheng Lihao, also the reigning Olympic and World champion in the event, and Wang Zifei, nailing the 10m air rifle mixed team gold with a score line of 17-7.
This marks India’s fourth medal and second gold at the Munich International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup (Rifle/Pistol), following Suruchi Singh’s gold and the two bronze medals won earlier this week by Sift Kaur Samra and Elavenil Valarivan in their respective individual events.
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Taking aim on the concluding day of the Munich World Cup on Saturday (Jun 14, 2025) morning, Arjun (317.7) and Arya (317.5) shot a combined 635.2 to finish second behind Sheng and Wang, who topped the 58-team field with a world record (also junior) score of 635.9.
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In the final, Arya began with a 9.8 to give the Chinese pair an early lead (0-2), but thereafter for the next seven series of single shots, the Indians shot only one shot below 10.5 (a 10.2) to take a huge 13-3 lead after the eighth series.
The top Chinese pair then managed to win the next two narrowly in the race to 16, but normal service resumed from the 11th series, as Arya and Arjun fired a couple of 10.5 and 10.7s respectively to get to match point.
In the final 12th series, while Arjun cancelled out Sheng with identical 10.1s, Arya outgunned Wang 10.6-10.4, to give India a memorable win.
The second Indian pair in the event, Elavenil Valarivan and Kiran Ankush Jadhav, also shot well in the first qualification relay, tallying 631.8, to finish sixth overall.
With that fourth medal, India moved to third spot in the standings, only behind China (six) and Norway (four). China have bagged three gold, one and two bronze while Norway claimed two gold, one silver and one bronze to dominate the standings.
Later in the night, Manu Bhaker and Aditya Malra will turn up 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event.
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