Shreyasi pips Punjab’s Rajeshwari to win trap title

New Delhi, November 18

Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Shreyasi Singh won the women’s trap crown at the ongoing 63rd National Shooting Championship for shotgun events at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.

Shreyasi, representing Bihar, got the better of Rajeshwari Kumari of Punjab in the trap final, which also featured the likes of Shagun Chowdhary and Seema Tomar. The 28-year-old Shreyasi shot 42 out of 50 birds to claim the gold, while Rajeshwari managed 38 hits to settle for silver.

“I am very happy, especially after having lost so many trap finals. My new coach Daniel Di Spignio was behind me today and I felt that was the difference. I was feeling much stronger and confident today. Hope I can carry on this form in the days to come,” said Shreyasi. This was Shreyasi’s fourth individual national title but her first in trap. Rajeshwari had earlier topped the qualification rounds with a score of 118 out of 125 while Shreyasi qualified fourth with a score of 112. Pragati Dubey of Madhya Pradesh, who had shot 110 in qualification and had to come through a shoot-off to get through to the six-woman final, won the bronze with a final score of 31.

Rajeshwari did win the gold on the day, though, claiming the team gold in the women’s trap along with teammates Inaya Vijay Singh and Prabsukhman Kaur. The Punjab trio totalled 319 to leave Rajasthan way behind with 311 for the silver medal. Madhya Pradesh won the bronze.

Haryana girls win bronze

Varda Sharma of Delhi won the junior women’s trap competition getting the better of Manisha Keer of Madhya Pradesh after a shoot-off took place to decide the gold and silver medal winners. Both Varda and Manisha had ended the final with 40 hits apiece. Manisha then missed her shoot-off shot while Varda connected. The MP women were on fire at the range on the day with Preeti Rajak also winning the bronze in the junior women’s trap with a score of 29 in the final. The trio of Manisha, Preeti and Neeru had earlier combined to give MP the team gold in the event with a tally of 310. Haryana won the silver, while Delhi won the bronze. — PTI