Looking forward for a good season, says national champion Kynan Chenai

New national trap shooting champion Kynan Chenai is keen to train and get ready for the upcoming selection trials.

Published : Nov 23, 2018 21:25 IST

Kynan Chenai won the gold medal in men's trap at the National Shotgun championship.
Kynan Chenai won the gold medal in men's trap at the National Shotgun championship.
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Kynan Chenai won the gold medal in men's trap at the National Shotgun championship.

Kynan Chenai had trained hard in Italy with coach Mansher Singh, all through the summer, and was understandably proud with his performance in the single-barrel final, that helped him clinch his maiden National championship gold in trap in Jaipur.

Driving to Delhi on Friday, for the first set of selection trials to be held at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, a little earlier than the rest, as he could not find a partner from Telangana to compete in the mixed trap team completion, the 27-year-old Kynan said that it was a good start for the season ahead.

"I have won the junior national gold five times. I have also won the silver and bronze in men’s event. It is always great to win gold, but to win my first men’s gold in national championship is special for me’’, said Kynan.

Not too pleased with his qualification score of 118 out of 125, Kynan, who competed in the Rio Olympics, was happy with the way he fought to make the final.

"I had a good first round. But the next two were rocky. I was happy to come back strong in the last two rounds to qualify for the final. I knew that Lakshay shoots good in final. It was a good competition. We were tied going into the gold match.

In the end, he missed three and I missed two. It is a good start to shoot 43. My finals in the past had not been good. But I will try to train better and take the score up to 45 and 47. Then only we can hope to win international medals and get the Olympic quota’’, said Kynan.

With former World Champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu jumping back into the reckoning with the mixed trap gold with Rajeshwari Kumari, and the Asian Games silver medallist Lakshay Sheoran stepping up the overall standard, Kynan felt that it would only augur well for India’s aspirations to strike something big in trap.

"With good standard at home, we will be best prepared for the international competitions. We can definitely hope to win’’, said Kynan.

It will be a great opportunity to shoot the World Cup at home in Delhi in February, and aspire to win some Olympic quota places for Tokyo.

"I love competing at home. It is an advantage. It gives us a fighting chance to shoot at the home range. I don’t feel any pressure. I like it," said Kynan.

With the selection trials round the corner, Kynan is keen to train and get ready for it, to build on the good start that he has given for himself.

"I am looking forward to the trials," he said.

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