Jhajjar’s Suruchi bags 3 golds in shooting

Jhajjar girl stunned the crowd as she completed a hat-trick of wins in 10-metre air pistol competition in the ongoing National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) on Friday.

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The daughter of an Army veteran, Suruchi won her maiden senior national title, with a score of 243.1 and then added the junior and youth gold medal in a space of a few hours to make a memorable day.

The teen made it to the eight-woman final after topping the qualifications charts after totaling 585 points. For someone only five years into the sport, Surichi showed great mental resolve to shut out the field that included the likes of Olympian Rhythm Sangwan, Asian Games gold medallist Palak and India international Divya TS.

She, however, shot confidently in the 24-shot final and stayed in contention from shot one. By the time the eliminations began after the 12th shot, Suruchi had built up a huge 5.7 points lead over second place Rhythm. Maharashtra’s Krushnali Rajput was third.

“It is certainly a most memorable day. It was my first senior national title and to win three gold medals in a day is really special. Shooting, shooting and only shooting is what is in my mind in the days to come,” she said after her rare feat.

In the junior women’s final, Suruchi shrugged off Chandigarh’s Sainyam and won the gold comfortably by a difference of 3.4 points as she totalled 245.1. In the she scored 245.5 to finish 6.3 points ahead of second placed Sanskriti Bana of Uttar Pradesh. Palak won the bronze medal.