Haryana’s Ketan Malik overcame a strong field to be crowned as the champion in the women’s 10m Air Pistol final at the 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions, currently underway at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi on Thursday.
The elaborate field consisted of Paris Olympic double medalist Manu Bhaker, who finished seventh overall with 137.2 points, Asian Games champion Palak Gulia, who finished fifth with 179.2 points. Suruchi Phogat failed to qualify for the final and finished 14th overall with a score of 577.
Ketan struck the gold with 240.0, ahead of Meenu Pathak of Delhi, who took silver with 238.4, and Surbhi Rao, who claimed bronze with 219.5. In the Junior Women’s category, Vanshika Chaudhary from Uttar Pradesh emerged on top, edging Anjali Shekhawat by 0.2 for gold, while Palak Gulia secured bronze, and Army Marksmanship Unit’s Lakshita Bishnoi claimed the youth title after a narrow 0.6 victory over Rashmika Sahgal, with Sanskriti Bana completing the podium.
The final followed an extensive qualification phase that saw over 900 shooters compete across 39 relays. Palak Gulia topped the qualification with 582-24x. She was joined at the top by Manu Bhaker, who also shot 582, finishing second on inner-10 count with 19x. Ketan qualified third with 581-16x, while Mohini Singh (580-19x), Anjali Shekhawat (579-22x), Surbhi Rao (579-22x), Anjali Choudhary (579-19x), and Meenu Pathak (579-14x) completed the list of finalists.
In the Junior APW final, Vanshika Chaudhary emerged on top, shooting 240.5 to claim the gold medal. Anjali Shekhawat put up a strong challenge but finished just 0.2 behind to take silver, while Palak Gulia won bronze with 218.0. Payal Khatri (195.8) finished fourth, followed by Lakshita Bishnoi (177.7). Ketan Malik, competing in the junior final as well, finished sixth with 156.1, while Mohini Singh (131.8) and Rashmika Sahgal (117.2) completed the final lineup.
Palak Gulia also topped the junior qualification, followed by Ketan Malik, Mohini Singh and Anjali Shekhawat. Vanshika Chaudhary qualified fifth with 578-18x, narrowly ahead of Payal Khatri, who also shot 578 but finished sixth on inner-10 count. Lakshita Bishnoi (577-21x) qualified seventh, while Rashmika Sahgal (577-18x) secured the final qualifying spot.
In the Youth APW final, Lakshita Bishnoi claimed the gold medal, edging past Rashmika Sahgal by 0.6 after a closely fought final. Rashmika, who had led the field until the 22nd shot, settled for silver, while Sanskriti Bana won the bronze with 218.5. Suruchi Singh finished fourth with 197.9, while youth qualification topper Priyanshi Purva (581-23x) finished fifth in the final with 177.6, followed by Aaradhya Mishra (156.5), Janvi Vidhyadhar Manatkar (135.2) and Sneha (110.5).
In the Senior APW team event, Haryana clinched the gold medal with an aggregate score of 1735, led by Palak Gulia, Suruchi (577–17x) and Rhythm Sangwan (576–7x). Delhi finished second with 1725-48x, anchored by Meenu Pathak, Rashmika Sahgal and Parisha Gupta (569–16x), while the Army Marksmanship Unit secured bronze with 1723-57x through Lakshita Bishnoi, Himanshi (573–18x) and Sejal Raju Kamble (573–18x).
Haryana also topped the standings in the Junior Women’s Team event, winning gold with 1734-61x through Palak Gulia, Suruchi and Muskan (575–20x). The Army Marksmanship Unit claimed silver with 1723-57x, while Rajasthan secured bronze with 1719-45x, led by Mohini Singh, Anjali Shekhawat and Shikha Chaudhary (560–4x).
In the Youth (Sub-Junior) Women’s Team event, Delhi emerged winners with 1715-42x, followed by Haryana with 1712-44x, while Rajasthan completed the podium with 1712-42x.
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