National shooting championships: Anish Bhanwala shines with three golds

Fifteen-year-old sensation Anish Bhanwala upstaged veteran competitors to clinch the gold in the 25m Rapid Fire pistol, while also winning gold in the junior men's event and leading Haryana to a team gold at the 61st National shooting championships.

Haryana's Anish Bhanwala had a great run at the 61st National shooting championships that saw him clinch three gold medals.

Haryana teenager Anish Bhanwala proved to be a sensation as he turned the tables on his veteran finalists and claimed the 25m Rapid Fire pistol gold medal in the 61st National shooting championships at the National Games shooting range here on Sunday.

The 15-year-old, hailing from Karnal and already a silver medallist at the Commonwealth championships, was virtually unstoppable as he hit the top of the podium with a score of 31 after having led the preliminaries with a total of 583.

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Army shooters Rajesh Kumar and Pemba Tamang were placed second and third with scores of 24 and 20. In the team event, however, the Army Marksman Unit came up trumps, winning the gold medal totalling 1717 points, three points clear of Haryana. Border Security Force was third with 1689 points.

Anish also won the junior men’s event with a National record score of 30 in the final after having compiled a total of 583 in the initial phase. Adarsh Singh made it 1-2 for Haryana as he picked with the silver with a final score of 25 while Anhad Jawanda (Punjab) took the bronze medal with 16 points.

The 15-year-old also picked up another gold medal as he guided Haryana to the team gold, with a total of 1672 points. Punjab was second with 1667 points and Maharashtra third with 1601 points.