Arjun Babuta, 23, won the men's 10m air rifle gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, South Korea, on Monday. It was the first senior international medal for Arjun. Olympian rifle shooter Anjum Moudgil, who has watched Arjun's struggles over the years, said it was a "redemption" for the Punjab shooter after a "rollercoaster" ride.
Arjun defeated USA's Lucas Kozeniesky 17-9 in the gold medal round. He shot 630. 5 in the qualifying and then topped the ranking round with 261.1 to make the cut for the gold medal match. Lucas had won the 10m air rifle mixed event silver in Tokyo Olympics last year.
Arjun had won gold at the 2016 Junior World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan, but seemed to have lost his way after that, missing the 2020 Olympic berth narrowly.
'Arjun has shown immense strength in past few years'
Arjun Babuta of Chandigarh won gold in 10m air rifle gold medal at the ISSF World Cup --his first senior international medal.
"Arjun has been shooting well and working hard for the past seven-eight years now. He has shown immense strength and strong character in the past few years," the shooter's father, Neeraj Babuta, told TOI from Chandigarh.
"He missed the Olympic berth narrowly and it was heart-breaking for him. However, he stayed positive and started spending more hours at the range. Because of training hard, he injured his back and h ad to undergo treatment for months," the father said. "But Arjun is a very positive boy, and he came back stronger. Today's medal is the result of his dedication and love for the sport," Neeraj Babuta said.
USA's Lucas Kozeniesky, whom Arjun beat in the gold medal round, did not give up till the end but Arjun pulled out those big high 10s when it mattered most and finished clinically for a convincing score-line to help India open their account with a gold.
This was also foreign rifle coach Thomas Farnik's maiden medal in his very first international assignment with Indian rifle shooters. The Austrian was appointed just days ahead of the Changwon World Cup.
Another Indian in the fray, Paarth Makhija missed out on bronze after scoring 258.1 to finish fourth. Israel's Sergey Richter took bronze with 259.9. Tushar Shahu Mane finished a poor 30th.
In the women's 10m air rifle event, Mehuli Ghosh missed the ranking round by 0.1 point. Mehuli shot 628.7 to finish ninth; the eighth shooter qualified at 628.8.
