India's Anish Bhanwala clinched the silver medal in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event at the ISSF World Championships in Cairo, Egypt, on Sunday. The 23-year-old shooter secured the country’s fifth medal at the ongoing championships and claimed his maiden individual senior World Championships medal.
Bhanwala’s path to the silver medal involved a total of four shoot-offs in the final. After entering the final in second place following the qualification round (585 - 22x), the Indian shooter was forced into his first shoot-off against Germany’s Emanuel Mueller. Bhanwala successfully navigated this tiebreaker, and a subsequent double shoot-off against Mueller, to guarantee himself at least a bronze medal. He then held his nerve through two more shoot-offs against Horodynets to ultimately edge out the Ukrainian and upgrade his medal's color to silver.
The Haryana shooter confirmed that "meticulous planning, extra hours at the training range, and a positive mindset" contributed to his success. Bhanwala, who took a break post-Paris Olympics, noted that he had deliberately planned an intense training program for the World Championships, practicing for long hours with his coach, Harpreet Singh. He also revealed a unique motivation technique: "I had put the Doha schedule as my phone wallpaper, to make me believe that I will win a medal in Cairo," referring to the upcoming World Cup Finals.
The silver medal makes Bhanwala the first Indian shooter to ever win a medal in the men’s 25m rapid fire event at the World Championships. This follows his silver medal win at the Asian Shooting Championships in the same event earlier this year. His success in Cairo ends the disappointments of his previous World Championships appearances in 2018, 2022, and 2023, showing his development into a mature rapid fire shooter.
Bhanwala’s silver brings India’s total medal count at the Cairo meet to five: one gold, two silvers, and two bronze. Ravinder Singh had previously won gold in the non-Olympic men's 50m pistol event, while Olympian Elavenil Valarivan secured two bronze medals in the women’s 10m air rifle event (individual and team). India’s campaign continues with Olympic medalists Manu Bhaker and Swapnil Kusale scheduled to be in action on Monday.