Suraj Sharma wins senior and junior titles at national shooting championship

Madhya Pradesh’s Suraj Sharma won both senior and junior men’s titles in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the 68th National Shooting Championship in Delhi

Hyderabad: Madhya Pradesh’s Suraj Sharma delivered a golden double on Friday at the 68th National Shooting Championship at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi, sweeping both the Senior and Junior Men’s national titles in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (RFP) event with two composed and authoritative performances.

Suraj first stamped his authority in the junior final, closing with 30 hits to secure the gold medal, before returning later to control the senior final and add a second title with 31 hits.

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He began the senior final in dominant fashion, hitting 19 of his first 20 targets, and went on to close the contest with 31 hits, finishing three clear of defending champion Vijayveer Sidhu of Punjab, who settled for the silver medal with 28 hits. Rajasthan’s Bhavesh Shekhawat rounded off the podium, claiming bronze with a total of 24 hits.

Earlier in the RFP junior men’s final, Suraj Sharma produced another composed display to win the gold medal with 30 hits. Mukesh Nelavalli secured the silver medal, finishing with 25 hits. Haryana’s Jatin settled for the bronze medal with 22 hits after a shoot-off, having earlier shot 575-13x in qualification. Sameer finished fourth with 17 hits (571-18x), followed by Bhavya Sharma in fifth with eight hits (570-16x) and Abhinav Choudhary in sixth with six hits (569-15x).

In the senior team category, Punjab claimed the gold medal with an aggregate score of 1725, led by Vijayveer Sidhu, Udhayveer Sidhu and Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu. Haryana secured the silver medal with 1722 through the combined efforts of Adarsh Singh, Mandeep Singh and Sameer, while the Navy claimed bronze with 1711, courtesy of Pradeep Singh Shekhawat, Rajat Kumar Yadav and Omkar Singh.

In the junior team category, Haryana topped the standings to win gold with an aggregate of 1705, fielding Jatin, Sameer and Nishant Rathee. Madhya Pradesh finished second to take silver with 1689, anchored by Suraj Sharma, Sahil Choudhary and Hariom, while the Navy completed the podium with the bronze medal on 1667 through Bhavya Sharma, Vansh Pratap and Bhanupratap Singh Shekhawat.