Malikaa Wig won the silver medal ahead of Varsha Varman in the junior women’s trap event in the International junior Shotgun Cup in Orimattila, Finland, on Thursday.
Though the 16-year-old Malikaa, a student of Army Public School in Kanpur, shot only 42 out of 75 in the qualification phase, following rounds of 14, 12 and 16, she beat National junior champion Varsha 1-0 in the shoot-off after the two had tied on 10 in the semifinals.
In the gold medal match, Malikaa lost 7-14 to Maria Lucia Palmitessa of Italy who had topped the qualifiers with a score of 65.
Varsha did well to beat Hanna Ojala of Finland 9-8 in the bronze medal match.
Mahima Kumar, the third Indian girl in the fray, shot one point less than Malikaa, a total of 41 in qualification, but finished sixth.
In junior men’s trap, Manavaditya Singh Rathore shot 67, following rounds of 22, 22 and 23 to be second among 26 shooters, three points behind leader Luca Miotto of Italy. National junior champion, Gyanchand Susheel Sharan was on 65, with a series of 22, 24 and 19.
Yuvraj Mahajan (61), Abhay Singh Rathore (54) and Namanveer Brar (53) were figuring in the 10th, 17th and 18th spots respectively, with two more rounds to go before the final.
In junior men’s skeet, Mohd. Hamza Sheikh shot 65, following rounds of 24, 20 and 21, to be 11th in a field of 21 shooters after three rounds. Two more rounds and the final will be held on Friday.
The results: Junior women’s trap: 1. Maria Lucia Palmitessa (Ita) 14 (13) 65; 2. Malikaa Wig 7 (10) 1 (42); 3. Varsha Varman 9 (10) 0 (56); 4. Hanna Ojala (Fin) 8 (8) 2 (51); 6. Mahima Kumar 6 (41).
