Simranpreet Kaur Brar, champion Riya Shirish and Rahi Sarnobat, the sports pistol medallists.
| Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan
Riya Shirish overcame a strong field and bouts of nerves to emerge the champion in women’s 25-metre sports pistol event in the 67th National shooting championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Monday.
The 18-year-old Riya, a trainee of coach Akshay Ashtaputre in Pune, won the shoot-off 5-2 against qualification topper Simranpreet Kaur Brar (584) for the gold. The two had tied 2-2 in the first shoot-off after scoring identical 31 out of 50 in the final.
“It is a mental game, and i am happy with the way I shot in the final,” said Riya who wound up the final with 14 out of 15 in the last three series of five shots, to bridge a five-point deficit against Simranpreet.
TS Divya, recovering from a knee injury, placed fourth ahead of Neeraj Kaur, while Olympians Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh placed sixth and eighth respectively in the final that witnessed a series of shoot-off.
Simranpreet was so well settled with her rhythm that she won the junior final thereafter, beating Payal 5-2 in the shoot-off after the two were tied at 34. Riya did well to stay focused after the euphoria of women’s gold, and won the junior bronze, ahead of world record holder, Olympian Rhythm Sangwan who could not make the women’s final.
Shikha Chaudhary, Parisha Gupta, Purvi Pratap and Vridhi Goray were the others to make the junior final.
The results:
25m sports pistol: Women: 1. Riya Shirish (31)5 (576); 2. Simranpreet Kaur Brar 31(2) 584; 3. Rahi Sarnobat 25 (581).
Juniors: 1. Simranpreet Kaur Brar 34(5) 584; 2. Payal 34(2) 573; 3. Riya Shirish 30 (576).
Published – December 16, 2024 07:25 pm IST