Sport - Shooting

Broken birds play spoilsport

JAIPUR: Broken birds affected the progress of the men’s trap qualification rounds on the opening day of the 52nd National shotgun championship at the Oases range here on Monday. The scheduled rounds in one of the ranges could not be completed after four-time Olympian Mansher Singh, who colpleted 50 shots, complained of bad light.

The other big sufferer of the day was Raninder Singh, who had 19 broken birds — including 11 in a row — in his share. He shot a perfect round of 25 despite the hurdles.

However, Organising Secretary of the event, Sushil Chowdhary, said the clay birds could have broken during transportation. “All the birds are imported and could have broken on the way,” he said. “We will try to rectify it.”

The star of the day was Anwer Sultan, who led the pack after scoring a commendable perfect 25 in range ‘B’. He shot well despite the distraction and was strongly positioned to make the cut for the final.

“It was a good day for me. I am in good form, I have to shoot well tomorrow as well. You cannot take things for granted. Any day, anybody can shoot better and win,” he said.

On Tuesday, the remaining qualification rounds of the trap event will be completed in the morning session and the final will be held in the afternoon.

Leading shooters: Trap: Anwer Sultan (71), Darius Chenai (70), Anirudh Singh (69), Naib Khan (69), Raninder Singh (68), Zorawar Singh (68), Birendeep Singh Sodhi (66).

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