It was incredible shooting as the young Shardul Vihan won the men’s and junior gold medal in double trap in the 61st National Shotgun championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Tuesday. The 14-year-old Uttar Pradesh boy, who trains with the former Asian champion Anwer Sultan, himself a silver medallist in trap this time, beat the world No.1 Ankur Mittal 78-76 in a high quality final, for the men’s gold.
In the junior final, Shardul beat Shapath Bharadwaj, another youngster who had made the World Cup Final, 77-74. “I expected him to do this. He had shot so well in the World Championship in Moscow,” said coach Anwer, quite proud that Shardul also clinched the team gold in both the events.
After topping qualification with 139, Shardul had finished sixth in the World Championship junior event, but he was unstoppable this day. It was top drawer stuff from start to finish, as Shardul topped the qualification with 137 along with three others, and was placed second after the shoot-off.
Another seasoned double trap shooter, Mohd. Asab settled for the bronze, while World Champinoship junior silver medallist Ahvar Rizvi took the fourth place ahead of Sanjay Singh Rathore and Shapath Bharadwaj.
In the junior event also Ahvar missed the medal and placed fourth behind Sehajpreet Singh of Punjab, while Lakshjeet Singh Sindhu pipped Manavaditya Singh Rathore to the fifth place. It was interesting to find Manavaditya Rathore, son of Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Rathore come good in double trap, after having been a regular in trap.
The results: Men: Double trap: 1. Shardul Vihan 78 (137)7; 2. Ankur Mittal 76 (137)1; 3. Mohd. Asab 56 (137)8.
Junior men: 1. Shardul Vihan 77 (137)7; 2. Shapath Bharadwaj 74 (130); 3. Sehajpreet Singh 55 (123).
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