Gold winners: Arjun Babuta and Arya Borse beat Chinese to win 10m air rifle mixed team gold in World Cup

“When such wins come after such high scores in qualification in mixed team format, it gives you a lot of confidence. Sheng Lihao is currently the best 10m air rifle shooter in the world and to beat such a strong mixed team will count as one of our cherished medals. A joyous final,” Babuta told The Indian Express.

The Nasik native 22-year-old Borse, who started rifle shooting as she found the pistol to be too small a weapon, had reached the mixed team finals twice this World Cup season pairing up with Rudrankksh Patil. Babuta, 26, had reached the final of the mixed team event in the Cairo world cup last year. Babuta shot a score of 317.7 in qualification, Borse shot 317.5 to qualify for the gold medal against the Chinese pair.

“As compared to Individual events where we get 75 minutes to shoot 60 shots, here we shoot 30 shots each in 30 minutes. Yes, fatigue is less in mixed team qualification but then the margin of error is less,” Babuta spoke about the challenges, saying there is less chance of a comeback in 30 shots. “One also has to plan the series with fewer breaks without any dry shooting, which helps us in individual rounds,” says Babuta.

The previous qualification world record score of 635.8 was held by Patil and Narmada Raju in Cairo World Cup in 2023 and Borse would also talk about how it is different from individual event making to the top four teams to have a chance of a medal.

Babuta spoke about how they try to view the mixed-team event as an individual event to help them cope mentally. “We have to go with the individual shots’ mental state of mind here. I cannot control my partner’s scores and if I worry about her scores, I would not be able to give my best,” Babuta said. “In individual events, top eight shooters qualify but in mixed teams, only the top four teams qualify for the medal round,” says Borse.

In the final, each pair shoots one shot per series with a combined score determining the series winner that yields two points. The first pair to reach 16 points win the gold.

Borse started with a 9.8, Babuta followed it with a 10.6, while Zefei/Lihao came up with 10.4 and 10.1 to take 2-0 lead. But in the next four series, the Indian pair charged ahead to a 8-2 lead. The sixth series was tied at one point each, but soon the Indians were up 13-3. Eventually, the Indians won the 12th series to win the gold 17-7.

The Indian pair shot 18 shots of 10.5 or more as compared to the Chinese’s 12 shots.

“We do a lot of breathing exercises in between to take our mind away from the total score too,” says Babuta.

Overall, in the final, Borse shot a total of 125.7, Babuta made 127, as compared to Zefei’s 125.3 and Lihao’s 124.7.

Foreign coach Thomas Farnik too shared his views with this newspaper. “It is as individual as it gets, but then it also depends on your partner. Sometimes, shooters can tend to think about the other scores but then we simulate those conditions in national camps. Yes, India has the advantage of having good shooters in men and women’s event but then it depends on how each one of them performs in a particular series. One can recover though in this format even after having some bad series in the final,” said Farnik.

Starting 2026, ISSF will change the format of the medal matches including LA Olympics, with the top four teams in qualification fighting an elimination format. Right now, the top two teams advance to the gold medal match, and third and fourth ranked teams fight for bronze. But national coach Deepali Deshpande sees the strength of individual scores for a pair as the best chance in a newer format too.

“In national camps, we do make them practice in team formats and luckily we have some top ranked individual shooters. Yes, it’s a shared responsibility but the shooters are relaxed. The new finals elimination details are not out but I guess it will be a 24 shot format. Even then, the score of the pair will be counted and the mantra is to shoot individually.”