Aishwary wins gold with world record in shooting

World Championship silver medallist Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar delivered a landmark performance at the 68th Shooting Nationals on Tuesday, firing a world record 470.5 to clinch gold in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions final at the Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Range. Aishwary’s score is 1.6 points more than the current world record.

In simultaneous shotgun action at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi, Gurjoat Singh produced a composed display to win the skeet men’s gold with 55 hits, narrowly defeating nine-time national champion Mairaj Ahmad Khan, who finished second with 54 hits.

Aishwary was clinical from the start, equalling his own national record of 597, which he had first achieved at the recently concluded ISSF World Cup Final in Doha, to finish on top of the qualification. Navy shooter Niraj Kumar secured the silver with 463.7, and Uttar Pradesh’s Akhil Sheoran completed the podium with 451.8.

Defending national champion Kiran Ankush Jadhav finished fourth with 440.0, followed by Paris Olympic bronze medallist Swapnil Suresh Kusale with 429.7, and his teammate Arjun Babuta in sixth with 414.9. Monu Kumar with 403.2, and Manvendra Singh Shekhawat with 401.6 completed the final line up.

Earlier in qualification, Swapnil Kusale (594-33x) finished behind Aishwary followed by Arjun Babuta (594-32x), with Manvendra Singh Shekhawat (591-31x) in fourth position. Akhil Sheoran and Niraj Kumar both shot 589, finishing fifth and sixth on inner 10s, while Monu Kumar (589-28x) was placed seventh and Kiran Ankush Jadhav (588-32x) secured the final qualification spot in eighth.

Gurjoat Singh claimed the gold medal in the men’s skeet final with 55 hits, edging out Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan, who settled for silver with 54 hits at New Delhi. This was Mairaj’s 26th podium at the National Shooting Championship Competitions. He had earlier topped the qualification round with 122 hits, finishing level with Parampal Singh Guron but securing the top rank after a shootout, where he scored +11 against Parampal’s +10.

Harmehar Singh Lally claimed the bronze medal in the senior category with 43 hits and followed it up with the gold in the junior finals. Angad Vir Singh Bajwa finished fourth with 35 hits, followed by Parampal in fifth with 24 hits and Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodiya in sixth with 16 hits.

In the qualification round, Gurjoat was placed third with a score of 121, while Harmehar finished fourth with 120. Angad (+4) and Jyotiraditya (+3+2) both hit 119 targets and advanced to the final after a shootout. Harmehar claimed the gold medal after a commanding performance, topping the qualification round with a score of 120 before going on to register 54 hits in the final.

Zorawar Singh Bedi settled for silver with 51 hits, while Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodiya secured the bronze medal with a final score of 40. Ishaan Singh Libra finished fourth with 32, followed by Gurfateh Singh Sandhu (24), and Harviraj Singh with 14 hits. In the junior men’s 50m 3P final, Rohit Kanyan won the gold with 457.4, while Adriyan Karmakar took the second position, finishing with 455.5. Vedant Nitin Waghmare secured third place to claim the bronze with 443.0.

S Hithesh finished fourth with 431.2, followed by Manvendra Singh Shekhawat (418.9), Kushagra Singh Rajawat (408.8), Anshul Jangid (398.3) and Gauurav Dinesh Desale (396.4). In the men’s team 50m 3P, Railways secured the gold medal with a combined score of 1764-90x, led by Swapnil Kusale (594-33x), Arjun Babuta (594-32x) and Shahu Tushar Mane (576-25x).

The Navy team finished second to take silver with 1760-99x through Niraj Kumar (589-34x), Kiran Ankush Jadhav (588-32x) and Nikhil Tanwar (583-33x). The Army Marksmanship Unit claimed the bronze medal with an aggregate of 1756-93x, with contributions from Nishan Budha (587-38x).

In the junior men’s team 50m 3P, Rajasthan emerged on top to win the gold medal with a total score of 1748-77x, courtesy Manvendra Singh Shekhawat (591-31x), Prince (579-24x), and Deependra Singh Shekhawat (578-22x). Maharashtra finished second to secure silver with 1738-72x, led by Gaurav Dinesh Desale (583-24x), Vedant Nitin Waghmare (582-26x) and Shivam Swapnil Kawale (573-22x).

Haryana claimed the bronze medal with a combined score of 1738-47x through Rohit Kanyan (585-21x), Aryan Raj Kakkar (579-13x) and Nirman (574-13x). In the skeet team event, Punjab secured the gold medal with a combined score of 358, led by Gurjoat Singh (121), Abhay Singh Sekhon (119), and Bhavtegh Singh Gill (118).

Madhya Pradesh finished second with 342 through Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodiya (119), Rituraj Bundela (114), and Navneet Singh Bhadouriya (109). Army Marksmanship Unit claimed the bronze medal with an aggregate of 340, with contributions from Arjun Thakur (115), G Shival (113), and Atul Singh Rajawat (112). Punjab secured gold in junior skeet team category too with the combined score of 346, led by Harmehar Singh Lally (120), Zorawar Singh Bedi (115), and Gurfateh Singh Sandhu (113).

Army Marksmanship Unit claimed the silver medal with an aggregate of 330 on countback, with contributions from Atul Singh Rajawat (112), Mangchinglen Sitlhou (110), and Songougin Lenthang (108). Madhya Pradesh finished third to take bronze with 330 through Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodiya (119), Navneet Singh Bhadouriya (109), and Dushyant Vijay Bhardwaj (102).