Commonwealth Games silver medallist PN Prakash was crowned the Champion of Champions in 10m Air Pistol at the ongoing 58th National Shooting Championships in Pune on Thursday.
Prakash scored 30.5 to finish ahead of runner-up Prerna Gupta who scored 28.1 in the final round comprising 3 shots. There were eight top shooters from the men and women categories. Jitu Rai, Samaresh Jung, Shital Thorat, Shahzar Rizvi, Prashant Nagare and Vipin Rana were amongst the top contestants who were eliminated one by one.
The Karnataka shooter was awarded with a cash prize of Rs 50,000 by the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI).
Maharshtra’s Shital Shivaji Thorat became the new national champion in the Women’s 10m air pistol with a score of 199 in the finals. Punjab’s Harveen Sarao won the silver medal with 197.3, while promising youngster Prerna Gupta of Uttarakhand settled for the bronze, shooting 173.9.
In the team event, the CRPF trio of Pushpanjali Rana, Rachna Devi and Sakshi Dagar finished at the top with a total of 1122. Maharashtra closely followed for the silver with a total of 1117, while Haryana won the bronze with a total of 1113.
Another promising youngster, Yashashwini Deswal of Haryana became the new junior national champion, shooting a score of 384/400 in Junior Women’s 10m Air Pistol. Uttarakhand shooters Prerna Gupta and Mamta Kedia settled for the silver and bronze with a total of 378 and 377, respectively.
In the team event of Junior Women’s 10m Air Pistol, Haryana again walked away with the gold medal with a total of 1106. Maharashtra, with a total of 1093, finished second, while Madhya Pradesh settled for the bronze medal with 1088.
Haryana shooters stole the show in the Youth Women’s 10m Air Pistol as the state’s youth brigade bagged both the gold and silver medals. While Yashashwini again dominated the category to finally emerge as the youth champion with 384, her state mate Nayani Bharadwaj won the silver medal with a total of 374. Fateema Deesawala of Andhra Pradesh settled for the bronze medal with a total of 372.
In the team category of the event, Haryana walked away with the gold with a total of 1106, while Madhya Pradesh won the silver, shooting a total of 1089, and Maharashtra finished third to bag the bronze with a total of 1079.
