Panchkula shooter Yashaswini Deswal created history on Sunday by winning the 10m Air Pistol gold medal — equaling the junior world record score of 235.9 — in the final of the ISSF Junior World Championship in Suhl, Germany. Deswal (19), who studies in BA second year at DAV College, Chandigarh, also topped the qualification round with a score of 385 that included 11 perfect ten shots. “It is a record performance from her side and the way she shot in the final winning the gold medal with a difference of 4.1 points over the Korean shooter was excellent. She maintained her composure in the elimination format and recovered in a great way after some low scoring in the final. She had shot a score of 379 in senior World Cup in Munich earlier this year and missed the final by a whisker,” said T S Dhillon, her shooting coach. Daughter of Additional DG, SSB, Rajbir Deswal, the 19-year-old began shooting in 2011 and went on to become the national champion at the 58th National Shooting Championship held in Pune in 2015. Last year, Deswal won the silver medal in the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany and in May this year, she won the bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol event in Plezen, Czech Republic. On Sunday, while Deswal grabbed the top spot after the sixth elimination stage in final round. She eliminated Korean shooter Woori Kim for the gold medal. “She was behind after the first five elimination stages but she shot above 10.3 four times in the last six shots which helped her equal the junior world record score,” said Rajbir Deswal, while speaking from Delhi.
