Gaayathri Nithyanandam wins gold in rifle 3P event

Gaayathri shot 453.3 in the final to beat KC Hema by 1.4 points to clinch the top honour.

Gaayathri said she was No. 2 in the overall averages for selection of the Indian team for the Asian Games and World championship. (File Picture)

Gaayathri Nithyanandam came up with a strong performance  to win gold in women’s rifle 3-position event in the 18th Kumar Surendra Singh shooting championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Saturday.

After shooting a modest 1152 in qualification - the top score but did not compare well with her own 1176 shot in the Munich World Cup this year - Gaayathri shot 453.3 in the final to beat KC Hema by 1.4 points to clinch the top honour. Sonika took the bronze ahead of Lajja Gauswami, Shreya Saksena, Jayashree Das and Ankita Gupta.

Gaayathri, who would be skipping the fifth selection trial on Sunday, said she was No. 2 in the overall averages for selection of the Indian team for the Asian Games and World championship.

Gaayathri’s state team-mate from Tamil Nadu, G. Varshaa, won the junior gold, in a field of four shooters in the final. Yashika Shinde had no chance of catching up with Varshaa and spoilt the margin further with a 5.7 last shot in the gruelling 45-shot final.

In the men’s rifle 3-position event, Olympian Chain Singh pipped Gagan Narang by 2.4 points for the gold, even though the qualification scores of 1164 and 1149 respectively were far below the best for the two champion shooters.

Surendra Singh Rathod, who had topped qualification with 1167, along with Swapnil Kusale overtook the latter for the bronze.

In men’s air pistol, Deepak Sharma beat Om Prakash Mitharval - who had made the finals of two World Cups this season - in a thrilling fashion with a 0.2 point margin. Abhishek Verma took the bronze ahead of Manjit, Amanpreet Singh and Gaurav Tomar in a six-member field.

 

The results: 50m rifle 3-position: Men: 1. Chain Singh 452.6 (1164); 2. Gagan Narang 450.2 (1149); 3. Surendra Singh Rathod 438.3 (1167). Junior men: 1. Abhay Goel 442.7 (1138); 2. Akash Patidar 441.9 (1142); 3. Yash Padloskar 422.8 (1137). Women: 1. Gaayathri Nithyanandam 453.3 (1152); 2. KC Hema 451.9 (1149); 3. Sonika 439.5 (1144). Junior women: 1. G. Varshaa 441.1 (1110); 2. Yashika Shinde 429.0 (1104); 3. Mansi Kathait 422.3 (1108). 10m air pistol: Men: 1. Deepak Sharma 242.0 (581); 2. Omprakash Mitharval 241.8 (581); 3. Abhishek Verma 220.8 (578). Junior men: 1. Akash 240.0 (578); 2. Monu Kumar 239.3 (575); 3. Sachin Bhati 212.8 (574).