Bhopal, Dec 18: Kiran Ankush Jadhav of the Indian Navy secured the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) title at the 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) held in Bhopal on Wednesday. Jadhav outperformed Paris Olympic bronze medallist Swapnil Kusale and fellow Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, scoring 465.8 in the finals at the M.P. State Academy Shooting range. Aishwary Pratap finished in second place with a score of 463.1.
Swapnil, representing the Railways, led the 45-shot final until the 40th shot but dropped to third place with a total of 451.8 points just before the crucial final shot. In the qualification round, Swapnil excelled with an impressive score of 593, while Aishwary followed closely behind with a score of 592 and Jadhav qualified fourth with a solid 590.
Despite initially leading, Swapnil struggled after his 40th shot, recording the following four shots as 9.2, 9.4, 8.9, and 9.5, which dashed his hopes for the title. Jadhav, who was in third place up to the 40-shot mark, finished strong with scores of 10.6, 10.4, 10.6, 10.0, and 10.8, clinching the gold medal. Aishwary’s score of 9.9 for his 41st shot prevented him from capitalizing on Swapnil’s decline, leaving him in second place.
In the junior final, West Bengal’s Adriyan Karmakar, son of Olympian Jaideep Karmakar, emerged victorious over Madhya Pradesh’s Kushagra Singh Rajawat with a comfortable score of 462.0, finishing four points ahead of the local competitor.
Rajasthan’s Deependra Singh Shekhawat secured third place, scoring 445.6. Adriyan had qualified for the final in third position with a score of 586, while Haryana’s Rohit Kanyan topped the qualification with a score of 587. (PTI)
