Yugan Sakthivel Muthukumaar Wins Gold at ISSF Junior World Cup
The gold medal in the men’s trap event at the ISSF Junior World Cup Shotgun 2026 was bagged by Yugan Sakthivel Muthukumaar from India in Porpetto, Italy on September 18. The 15-year-old shooter fired at 27 of 30 targets in the eight-shooter final and won the gold medal. He was one target better than the Italian Francesco Tanfoglio. It was the first medal for India in the Porpetto ISSF Junior World Cup Shotgun as the women’s trap bronze medalist was Sabeera Haris, the junior Asian champion.
Yugan qualified sixth for the final with a score of 114/125 and qualified for the eight-shooter medal round in a shoot-off.
In the final round, the young Indian shooter made good use of the chance by firing at 27 out of 30 targets. Italy’s Francesco Tanfoglio was one target away from him.
It was the first medal for India in the junior ISSF World Cup Shotgun held in Porpetto.
Apart from these shooters, among others in the qualification rounds of the men’s trap category, Arjun and Vinay Pratap Singh Chandrawat were the top two Indian performers, who scored 112/125 and ranked 12th and 13th, respectively.
Udhav Singh Rathore made 111/125 to finish 16th.
India failed to clinch a medal in the men’s and women’s junior skeet category, as no Indian shooter qualified for the finals.
Sabeera Haris was the only Indian performer who managed to make the finals in the women’s trap category.
The junior Asian champion made it to the final ranking sixth with 108/125. She also qualified for her final round through a shoot-off.
But in the medal round, Sabeera could not maintain her qualification-round performance. She hit 9 out of 15 targets and ended up sixth.
India’s shooters Bhavya Tripathi and Krishika Joshi missed the final by scoring 105 in the qualification round, ranking ninth and tenth, respectively.
The Porpetto tournament marks the second Junior ISSF World Cup in 2026. The first tournament was held in Cairo, Egypt, in April and had shooting events for rifles, pistols and shotguns.
India was the highest medal winner in the Cairo tournament, securing 16 medals, which consisted of five gold, six silver and five bronze medals.
The Indian pair of Zuhair Khan and Addya Katyal secured the only Indian medal in shotguns at the Cairo tournament.
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