Sport - Shooting   

Anjali overcomes Suma's challenge

By K.C. Vijaya Kumar

Ram Kishan (left) and Ronak Pandit, winners of the 25m rapid fire pistol senior and junior events, in the National shooting championship in Bangalore on Tuesday. (Right): Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat, who won the gold in the 10m air rifle event. — Photos: K. Bhagya Prakash

BANGALORE Nov. 19. Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat smiled past raging competitive fires. And near her stood a disconsolate Suma Shirur. A rivalry that defines Indian women's shooting got an added nugget while Anjali, pipped Suma and clinched gold in the National shooting championship's 10m air rifle final at the indoor range in the J.N. Radhakrishna Memorial Shooting Complex here on Tuesday.

It seemed a script that adhered to recent history until Anjali thought otherwise. The Nation's ace women air rifle shooters have been battling hard for the champion's turf and while Anjali dominated in the World championship and in the Commonwealth Games, it was Suma who wrested the lead in the Asian Games. And the rivalry did help as the duo, along with Deepali Deshpande, helped India win silver at Busan.

Today, Suma seemed set to continue her new found dominance as she led with three points in the preliminary rounds.

However, pressure and Anjali's experience undid Suma's challenge. And when it mattered most, Suma failed to deliver the knockout.

The Railway employee's dreams were derailed, while CISF's Anjali fired 499.6. And Suma remained close yet far at 499.2.

"She (Suma) stumbled in the final. Of course there was pressure but then I have had more exposure in international events and it helped.

Suma has improved tremendously in the last one year and she has closed the gap between us,'' said Anjali. And while limelight hovered around Anjali and Suma, Railways' Anuja Tere claimed bronze at 497.1.

The senior event's rivalry was followed by the junior event's romp as the Infantry Kids division swept the individual and team golds in the 10m air rifle.

Raj Kumari (392), Sharda Thapa (390) and Meena Kumari (389) secured the top three slots in the individual section and later teamed up to clinch gold at 1171 in the team competition.

In the men's events, Ram Kishan topped the 25m rapid fire pistol event at 665. The Naik Subedar with the Army Markmanship Unit at Mhow is itching to make a mark in the International arena. "I always dream about an Olympic medal,'' he said.

In the junior event, Maharashtra's Ronak Pandit secured gold at 560.

He, however, rued his fourth place in the senior event. "I shot badly in the initial rounds and though I did make up subsequently, it proved late in the senior event,'' he said.

The results:

Women: National open championship: 10m air rifle: 1. Anjali V. Bhagwat (CISF), 499.6; 2. Suma Shirur (Rly), 499.2; 3. Anuja Tere (Rly), 497.1.

10m air rifle team: 1. Railways 1183 (Suma Shirur 399, Poornima Gawhane 390, Anuja Tere 394); 2. CISF 1181 (Anjali V. Bhagwat 396, Kuheli Gangulee 392, Leena Shirodkar 393); 3. Maharashtra 1173 (Deepali Deshpande 393, Tejaswini R. Sawant 390, Pramila K. Badlani 390).

10m air rifle junior: 1. Raj Kumari (Inf) 392; 2. Sharda Thapa (Inf) 390; 3. Meena Kumari (Inf) 389.

10m air rifle junior team: 1. Infantry Kids 1171 (Meena Kumari 389, Raj Kumari 392, Sharda Thapa 390); 2. Punjab 1159 (Navdeep K. Dhillon 387, Chetanpreet Nilon 387, Sabeeha Dhillon 385); 3. Chandigarh 1121 (Prabhleen Chauhan 385, Shaleen Chauhan 378, Tamanna 358).

Men: National open championship: 25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Ram Kishan (Army), 665; 2. Poonam Kumar (BSF), 661.8; 3. B.L. Dhaka (Army), 660.

25m rapid fire pistol team: 1. Army 1689 (Pemba Tamang 564, B.L. Dhaka 567, Dhyan Singh 558); 2. BSF 1671 (Poonam Kumar 568, Manju Nath 558, Mohinder Singh 545); 3. Maharashtra 1648 (Ashok Pandit 552, Ronak Pandit 560, Raj Khalid 536).

25m rapid fire pistol junior: 1. Ronak Pandit (Mah) 560; 2. Sandeep Singh (Army) 546; 3. Alok Singh (Indi) 544.

25m rapid fire pistol junior team: 1. Indian Airlines 1612 (Toshinder Singh 524, Sayed Zakir Ali 544, Alok Singh 544); 2. Maharashtra 1580 (Ronak Pandit 560, Rommel Pandit 529, Amol R. Renke 491); 3. Army 1538 (Manoj Kumar 487, Ramesh Dandge 505, Sandeep Singh 546).

National championship (restricted to civilians): 25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Amol S. Chauhan (Mah) 556; 2. P.N. Prakash (Kar) 537; 3. Sumeet H. Sanghavi (TN) 537.

25m rapid fire pistol junior: 1. Vineet Kumar (Delhi), 525.

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