Indian shooters Saurabh, Divyansh, Elavenil 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, were awarded the prestigious “Golden Target” award by the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF).

This is the first time the federation introduced the Golden Target award, where they recognised and honoured the top-ranked shooters from 12 categories. The ceremony was held in Munich on December 7.

The Sports Authority of India took to Twitter to congratulate the three youngsters who have been in terrific form this year:

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 the 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.