Saniya Shaikh won the women's skeet gold medal, beating Arti Singh by five shots, in the Sahara 54th National shooting championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Saniya, who had won her maiden National women's title two years ago in Jaipur in the absence of Arti, said the latest effort would give her a lot of confidence.
Saniya, National junior champion for six times in a row, shot rounds of 23, 21 and 22 (total 66), one short of her best score. With only four shooters in the fray, there was no final.
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“You were fantastic,'' said Arti, as she congratulated Saniya after the third and final round.
Arti, who finished fourth in the World Cup a few years ago, was not at her best and had rounds of 21, 20 and 20 (total 61). Bhawna Kumari of Army was third with 58, a gutsy third round of 23 following a miserable 18 and 17 in the first two.
Rashmee Rathore, a member of the Indian team last year, finished with 52 after rounds of 17, 19 and 16.
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Delighted
“I am happy with my performance and score as I have been able to shoot well after a long time,'' said Saniya, who had to be content with silver in the previous edition in Patiala.
The 12th standard student of Karan Public School in Meerut, Saniya attributed her improvement to the constant encouragement and guidance of her father, Sualeyheen Shaikh, who himself is a seasoned skeet shooter.
Among the men, Mann Singh led with 71 after three rounds of qualification with rounds of 24, 23 and 24.
He was one point ahead of Smit Singh and National champion Mairaj Ahmad Khan. The latter had a series of 23, 23 and 24. Two rounds remain and would be followed by the final.
Rajagopal Thondaiman, Parampal Singh Gurung, Baba P.S. Bedi and Sheeraz Sheikh followed the leaders with 68 each.
Good response
There was overwhelming response for the rifle and pistol events, scheduled to start on Monday, with around 1600 entries.
The opening day for rifle and pistol will witness the women's air pistol qualification in which nearly 300 shooters are in the fray. The high number of entries has forced the organisers to change the schedule.