3 Indian shooters get Golden Target award from ISSF

Three Indians, Saurabh Chaudhary, Divyansh Singh Panwar and Elavenil Valarivan, who finished as the number 1 shooters in their respective categories in the year-end world rankings, will be awarded with the prestigious "Golden Target" award by the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF).

The federation started the Golden Target award from this year, where they will recognize and honour the top-ranked shooters from 12 categories. The ceremony will be held in Munich on December 7. With three shooters ranked number 1 India leads the pack, with China and USA coming second with two number 1s each.

While Panwar topped the men's 10 metres air rifle category, young Valarivan ended as number 1 in the women's 10 metres air rifle competition. Chaudhary ended the year as the top-ranked shooter in the men's 10 metres air pistol category.

Panwar bagged the yellow medal in two World Cups this year, in Beijing and Munich and also won a gold in the recent World Cup Finals. He made his senior debut this year and immediately left an impact with his calmness and his steely nerves under pressure. Panwar trains under former India shooter and coach Suma Shirur.

Valarivan too made her senior World Cup debut in 2019, and just missed a medal in the Munich World Cup as she ended at fourth position. However, she more than made up for the narrow miss by clinching gold at the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and then bagged top honours in the World Cup Finals that was held in China.

Chaudhary, who has surpassed mentor Jitu Rai's best score of 585 when he shot 587 this year, got a gold medal in New Delhi and Munich, and ended with a bronze in the Rio World Cup. He, however, failed to finish on a high, coming sixth in the World Cup Finals.