2018 Commonwealth Games: Anish Bhanwala, Tejaswini Sawant win shooting gold

Anish Bhanwala secured India’s second 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medal in shooting on Friday, finishing first in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol finalThe 15-year old smashed the CWG record in the event en route to winning his maiden Games medal, thus becoming India’s youngest gold medallist in the process.

Another Indian shooter Neeraj Kumar had reached the finals of the same event but could only finish fifth in the overall standings. Earlier on Friday, Tejaswini Sawant won her second medal of 2018 Commonwealth Games, finishing first in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions final event on Friday and created a new Games record in the process. In a 1-2 finish for India, the 37-year-old Tejaswini shot a CWG record 457.9 in the event’s finals, while Moudgil aggregated 455.7 at the Belmont Shooting Centre. This is the seventh CWG medal for Tejaswini, following two golds in 2006, a pair of silvers and a bronze in 2010 and as silver in women’s 50m rifle prone in the ongoing edition yesterday.

On the other hand, the 24-year-old Moudgil has tasted her first success in these Games while making her maiden appearance. Sawant again brought all her years of experience into play in the finals, Moudgil showed resilience while making fine recovery after finishing a disappointing 16 in prone. In recent times, critics had started saying that the 37-year-old Sawant’s best years were behind her. However, her recent performances have proved her detractors wrong and she is in no mood to stop any time soon. “I’m aiming for the Olympic Games in Tokyo (2020), but next up is the Asian Games and then the World Championships in Korea (August-September 2018),” said Tejaswini on Thursday after winning silver in the women’s 50m prone event.