National meet: Shagun fires opening salvo

New Delhi, November 17

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Shagun Chowdhary shot two rounds of 25 to grab the pole position on Day 1 of the women’s trap qualifiers at the 63rd National Shotgun Shooting Championship.

The seasoned Shagun, representing ONGC, shot the same score of 71 as Punjab’s Rajeshwari Kumari, but two perfect rounds of 25 including the third and final round of the day, saw her claim the top honours at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. Intense competition is building up as the finals beckon after two more qualifying rounds on Monday with Bihar’s Shreyasi Singh closely following on 70 and the likes of Seema Tomar also in the top-6 with a score of 67. Defending champion Varsha Varman, however, was way behind in the 52-strong field with a 57. In the junior women’s trap, Shefali Rajak of Madhya Pradesh was on top with a 65, while Haryana’s Suhanya Singh, who shot 64, was close behind. — PTI

Biggest-ever squad for World Cup Finals

Putian (China): Arriving with its biggest-ever squad, India will field a shooter in each of the 10 Olympics events in the international shooting federation’s season-ending Word Cup Finals, beginning here on Tuesday. The prestigious tournament determines the season’s best shooters across events, and India is fielding a 14-member squad for as many as 19 starts. Only the world’s top-ranked shooters in each discipline are entitled to participate in the tournament, whose shotgun equivalent was held in Al Ain, UAE, in October. The first of the 10 finals are scheduled for Tuesday. National coach Jaspal Rana said, “All the members of the squad are fit and raring to go.” Sanjeev Rajput and Akhil Sheoran in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) and Anjum Moudgil in the corresponding women’s event will be the first Indians to have a crack at the medals on Tuesday. An unprecedented four Indian shooters will be part of the women’s 10m air rifle competition, the discipline in which India won the first two of its 15 Olympics quotas at the World Championships in Changwon, South Korea, last year. Sharing her thoughts before leaving for tournament, Anjum said, “I am really excited to be part of the main 3P team again and looking forward to doing well in my first world cup final.” Also excited was another ISSF WCF debutant Mehuli Ghosh, who has made the cut in the women’s 10m air rifle, which will also have Elavenil Valarivan. All qualified athletes in the individual events will also be able to take part in the mixed team air rifle and pistol events and then challenge for the President’s Trophy.— PTI