Ananya Naidu bags gold in women's air rifle at shooting nationals

BHOPAL: Maharashtra's Ananya Naidu won the women's 10m Air Rifle event of the ongoing 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) (Rifle) with a score of 252.5 in the finals on Tuesday, at the MP State Academy (MPSA) shooting range. She trumped the experienced Meghana Sajjanar of the Railways by a mere 0.2 points for a first senior national title. The bronze was bagged by R. Narmada Nithin of Tamil Nadu, who bowed out with a score of 231.3.

The winner took a lead of 1.4 after the first five-single-shots series itself and never looked back. In the final two shots of the 24-shots final, both Ananya and Meghana scored a total of 20.6 points, enthralling audiences in the Finals Hall as well as those glued online.

The qualification result showed Ananaya in the 8th position. Statemate Arya Rajesh Borse topped with a total score of 633.3 points while Narmada Nithin gave a consistent performance both in the qualifications and in the finals by maintaining her position in the top 3 of the scoreboard. She qualified second with a score of 632.9 points, a release said.

Ananya gave a spectacular performance by converting her last rank in qualification to the eventual winner.

In the 10m Air Rifle Junior Women event, Gautami Bhanot secured the first position with a score of 251.5. The silver medalist, Mayuri Laxman Pawar (Maharashtra) and Gautami, both tied at 168.0 points at one stage, but a tally of 21.6 in the next two shots to Mayuri's 20.5, helped Gautami regain her lead. The third position was secured by Disha Dhankar (Haryana) with a score of 229.9 points.