Mehuli Ghosh wins air rifle gold at Khelo India University Games

Mehuli Ghosh was in brilliant form as she won the women’s air rifle gold with an incredible performance, pipping Narmada Nithin by 0.1 point.

FILE: On a day when there were five finals, Mehuli was able to retain the spotlight on herself, as she qualified with an unbelievable score of 637.0.  | Photo Credit: MAHINSHA S/The Hindu

Mehuli Ghosh was in brilliant form as she won the women’s air rifle gold with an incredible performance, pipping Narmada Nithin by 0.1 point in the Khelo India University Games at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Saturday.

On a day when there were five finals, Mehuli was able to retain the spotlight on herself, as she qualified with an unbelievable score of 637.0. She had a slow start in the final, but caught up with Narmada towards the end, twice being tied for the top spot before pulling ahead on the last two shots.

In men’s rapid fire pistol, Anish Bhanwala asserted his class by beating Adarsh Singh 28-27 for the gold, after having qualified in the second place with 580. Qualification topper Vijayveer Sidhu (586) ended up fourth, but his twin brother Udhayveer Sidhu pulled to the bronze medal, on losing a long-drawn shoot-off for the second spot 10-12 to Adarsh.

If it was the top Indian shooters fighting it out in rapid fire pistol, Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh was too good act as he beat Surya Pratap Singh Banshtu by a 10.7 point margin, after qualifying at the top with 590. Aishwary had missed the air rifle medal earlier after having topped the qualification, but ensured that he fetched the gold this time for Guru Nanak Dev University.

In men’s trap, Shapath Bharadwaj beat Manavaditya Rathore 43-38 for the gold after a modest score of 110 in qualification. It was the first gold for Manav Rachna University in the day before Anish gave a nice finish with the second gold.

The women’s trap gold went to Pragati Dubey as she beat qualification topper Kiran 40-39.

The results:

10m air rifle: Women: 1. Mehuli Ghosh 251.6 (637.0); 2. Narmada Nithin 251.5 (629.1); 3. Yukthi

Rajendra 227.9 (631.2).

25m rapid fire pistol: Men: 1. Anish Bhanwala 28 (580); 2. Adarsh Singh 27 (579); 3. Udhayvee

Sidhu 23 (577).

50m rifle 3-position: Men: 1. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 460.8 (590); 2. Surya Pratap Singh

Banshtu 450.1 (579); 3. Sartaj Singh Tiwana 437.7 (579).

Trap: Men: 1. Shapath Bharadwaj 43 (110); 2. Manavaditya Rathore 38 (114); 3. Anwer Khan 31 (111).

Women: 1. Pragati Dubey 40 (105); 2. Kiran 39 (106); 3. Vidhi Singh 30 (106).