Ketan Malik wins women’s 10m air pistol national title in Delhi

Haryana’s Ketan Malik won the women’s 10m air pistol title at the 68th National Shooting Championships in Delhi, beating Meenu Pathak and Surbhi Rao. Vanshika Chaudhary and Lakshita Bishnoi topped junior and youth events, while Haryana dominated team competitions

Hyderabad: Haryana’s Ketan Malik overcame a strong field including Paris Olympic double medalist Manu Bhaker and Asian Games champion Palak Gulia to be crowned National Champion in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol (APW) event at the 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Delhi, on Thursday.

Ketan struck 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. 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.

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The final followed an extensive qualification phase that saw over 900 shooters compete across 39 relays. Palak Gulia topped qualification with 582-24x. Manu Bhaker 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 senior final, Manu Bhaker finished seventh with 137.2, Anjali Choudhary eighth with 110.1, Mohini Singh ended fourth with 197.9 and Anjali Shekhawat placed sixth with 157.5.

In the Junior APW final, Vanshika Chaudhary shot 240.5 to claim gold. Anjali Shekhawat 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 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 spot.

In the Youth APW final, Lakshita Bishnoi claimed gold, edging Rashmika Sahgal by 0.6 after a closely fought contest. Rashmika, who had led until the 22nd shot, settled for silver, while Sanskriti Bana won bronze with 218.5. Suruchi Singh finished fourth with 197.9, while qualification topper Priyanshi Purva (581-23x) ended fifth with 177.6. Aaradhya Mishra (156.5), Janvi Vidhyadhar Manatkar (135.2) and Sneha (110.5) completed the final.

In the Senior APW team event, Haryana clinched gold 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 Army Marksmanship Unit secured bronze with 1723-57x through Lakshita Bishnoi, Himanshi (573-18x) and Sejal Raju Kamble (573-18x).

Haryana also topped the Junior Women’s team event, winning gold with 1734-61x through Palak Gulia, Suruchi and Muskan (575-20x). 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.