Ravi Kumar of Air Force gave a stellar performance to win gold in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle at the ongoing 60th National Shooting Championship in Pune.
The-26-year-old led from start to finish with a score of 206.5 dashing the hopes of his teammate Deepak Kumar who led the qualification phase with a score of 626.2.
Deepak Kumar gave Ravi a good fight in the finals and even took a slendervlead after the 9th shot. Ravi however maintained his consistent form and took the lead at the conclusion of the 14th series.
Olympian Sanjeev Rajput, who had qualified with a score of 623.3, was absent in the final and hence finished 8th.
Ravi had won the bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games two years ago, but a severe damage to his left shoulder after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow kept him out of last year nationals in New Delhi.
The bronze won by Army’s Dharmendra Singh.
The Results:
Men’s 10m Air Rifle: 1. Ravi Kumar (Air Force) 206.5 (625.8) ; 2. Deepak Kumar (Air Force) 205.8 (626.2); 3. Dharmendra Singh (Army) 184.0 (622.6); 4. Akhil Sheoran (Uttar Pradesh) 161.2 (621.8); 5.Chain Singh (Army) 141.5 (622.3); 6. Hriday Hazarika (Assam) 120.0 (622.9); 7; Shivraj Sawant (Maharashtra) 97.6 (624.2); 8. Sanjeev Rajput (Haryana) 0 (623.3).
Men’s 10m Air Rifle Team: 1. Air Force (Ravi Kumar, Deepak Kumar, Satyam Chauhan) 1870.9 ; 2. Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) (Chain Singh, Satyendra Singh, Imran Hasan Khan) 1861.8; 3. Uttar Pradesh (Akhil Sheoran,Perveen Kumar, Amit Rana) 1860.3.