Yugan Sakthivel Muthukumaar won the men’s trap gold medal at the ISSF Junior World Cup Shotgun 2026 in Porpetto, Italy, on September 18. The 15-year-old Indian shooter scored 27 hits in the eight-shooter final to finish ahead of Italy’s Francesco Tanfoglio, who took silver with 26 hits. The result gave India its first medal at the Porpetto competition.

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Yugan Sakthivel Delivers a Strong Final

Yugan Sakthivel entered the final after finishing sixth in qualification with a score of 114 out of 125 targets. Because several shooters were closely placed, he had to win a shoot-off to secure his place in the eight-shooter medal round.

The final was decided over 30 targets. Yugan maintained his accuracy and finished with 27 hits. Tanfoglio remained close throughout the competition and ended with 26, while another Italian shooter, Simone Roncen, won bronze with 21 hits.

The official ISSF results list Yugan as the winner of the Trap Men Junior final held on September 18 at the Porpetto range.

A Close Route to the Final

Yugan’s qualification performance made his eventual gold medal particularly notable. He was sixth with 114 points out of 125 and had to compete in a shoot-off before entering the final.

Other Indian shooters also competed in the men’s trap qualification. Arjun and Vinay Pratap Singh Chandrawat finished 12th and 13th respectively, both with scores of 112. Udhav Singh Rathore finished 16th with 111.

Yugan therefore entered the final from outside the top positions but improved his performance when the medal was decided.

India’s First Medal at Porpetto

The gold medal was India’s first medal at the 2026 ISSF Junior World Cup Shotgun in Porpetto. The competition was held from September 12 to 20 and included junior events in trap and skeet.

The men’s trap qualification took place over September 17 and 18, followed by the final on September 18. The women’s trap final was also held on the same day, while the mixed team trap competition was scheduled for September 19.

The Porpetto event is part of the ISSF’s international junior competition calendar and provides young shooters with experience at a major global shooting event.

Yugan Sakthivel’s Shooting Record

Yugan Sakthivel Muthukumaar was born in February 2011 and competes in trap and trap mixed team events. The ISSF athlete database records his participation in junior international competitions in 2025 and 2026.

Earlier in 2026, he competed at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Cairo and finished eighth in the men’s junior trap event after qualification. He also competed at the ISSF Junior World Championships in Suhl, Germany, where he placed 11th in men’s junior trap qualification.

His Porpetto result is therefore his biggest international junior result so far, with the gold coming after earlier appearances at major ISSF events.

Understanding the Trap Event

Trap is a shotgun shooting discipline in which clay targets are launched from a trap house in different directions. Shooters must react quickly and hit the targets before they move out of range.

In junior ISSF competitions, athletes first take part in qualification rounds. The highest-ranked shooters then progress to the final. When scores are tied around the qualification cut-off, a shoot-off can be used to decide who moves into the medal round.

At Porpetto, Yugan’s 114 out of 125 in qualification placed him in a group fighting for the final positions. His successful shoot-off allowed him to continue, and he then produced the highest score in the final.

Junior Shooting Competition Gains Attention

The Porpetto result comes during a busy period for international shooting. The ISSF Junior World Cup is designed to provide young athletes with international competition experience and a pathway towards higher-level events.

The ISSF’s 2026 calendar also includes major senior competitions and preparations for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic cycle. The organisation has continued to conduct ranking events, world championships and junior competitions across different shooting disciplines.

For India, junior shooting remains an important part of the wider national shooting programme. Indian athletes compete across rifle, pistol and shotgun events at international junior and senior competitions.

Porpetto Gold Adds to India’s Junior Shooting Results

Yugan Sakthivel’s Porpetto gold also adds to India’s results in the 2026 ISSF junior season. The country had already recorded a strong medal performance at the Cairo Junior World Cup earlier in the year, where India finished at the top of the medal table with 16 medals.

The Porpetto event also featured other young Indian shooters across the shotgun disciplines. Yugan’s victory gives India’s junior trap programme an additional international result as the 2026 shooting season continues.

The ISSF Junior World Cup Shotgun concluded in Porpetto on September 20, with the final competition being the Trap Mixed Team Junior event. Italy’s Luca Gerri and Valentina Archetti won that event after equalling the Junior World Record with 35 hits.