In a heart-stopping final at the ISSF World Cup in Lima, Peru, Arjun Babuta won the silver in Men’s 10m Air Rifle, falling short of the gold by a razor-thin margin of 0.1 point to reigning Olympic Champion Sheng Lihao of China.
Babuta, who had narrowly missed a medal at the Paris Olympics last year with a fourth-place finish, seemed poised to pull off a major upset. After 22 shots, he led Sheng by 0.3 points. But Sheng delivered a flawless 10.9 on his penultimate shot, while Babuta scored a 10.3, flipping the scoreboard in Sheng’s favor by the same margin.
With one shot to go, the pressure was high. Sheng, shooting first, posted a 10.3. Babuta needed a 10.7 to clinch gold — but could only manage a 10.5, handing the Chinese shooter the gold with a score of 252.4, while Babuta settled for silver with 252.3.
This silver marks Babuta’s second individual ISSF World Cup medal, following his gold in Changwon in 2022, and signals a return to form for the 26-year-old marksman.
Hungary’s Istvan Peni claimed bronze with 229.8, marking his second medal of the tournament. The three-time Olympian, who qualified for the final with a score of 631.1, had earlier won bronze in the 50m Rifle Three Positions and is on a hot streak, following a gold-silver double at the Buenos Aires World Cup earlier this month.
Babuta’s road to the final was solid — he placed fourth in the qualifiers with 631.9 and showed excellent composure throughout the final. The silver in Lima is a significant comeback after finishing seventh in Buenos Aires.
Sheng shot the best qualification score of 635.0. He had shot 633.1 to finish fourth in the qualification round at the Buenos Aires World Cup, but did not progress to the final there as he was competing for the Ranking Points Only (RPO).
India’s other finalist, Rudrankksh Patil, saw his campaign end in disappointment. After a solid start, tying Sheng’s first 10-shot total at 104.8, his 11th shot was declared invalid due to firing before the official signal. The penalty dropped him from fourth to eighth, and Patil chose to withdraw without taking his 12th shot. He had qualified third with a score of 632.0, riding high from his recent gold medal win in Buenos Aires.
Among the other Indians in the fray, Kiran Ankush Jadhav shot 629.8 in the RPO category, while former Junior World Champion Hriday Hazarika (629.3) finished 10th. Olympian Divyansh Singh Panwar also competed in the RPO category and shot 629.3.