Allan Daniel Peoples of Army retained his stranglehold for the third day in succession as he won the men's skeet gold for the third time, with a four-point margin, in the 55th National shotgun championship at the Karni Singh Shooting Range, Tughlakabad, on Tuesday.
“I was focused on hitting the target. In the final, I told myself that I had to fight and my score was only 120”, said Peoples who shot 24 in the final after 122 in qualification to run away with the gold.
Peoples who won the title in 2004 and 2006 said that more systematic training, as was done in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, would help the Indian skeet shooters meet the exacting world standards.
With Parampal Singh Guron not competing in the final after being placed sixth on 116, the other four behind Peoples, had a dramatic shoot-off after they tied at 142.
Smit Singh who had shot a perfect 25 in the final, like Sheeraz Sheikh, eventually beat the defending champion Mairaj Ahmad Khan, 33-31 in a long-drawn tie-shoot.
He could have clinched it a little earlier but for missing one bird after Mairaj had given him a chance by missing the 26th in the shoot-off.
Mairaj who missed the first two birds in the final to lose his grip after 120 in qualification, missed both the birds on the 16th attempt at station four during the shoot-off, that saw Smit nail both in his turn to grab the silver.
As a National junior champion the last two years, Smit had made the men's final, but was determined to make the current edition more memorable. “I did not think who I was competing against. Was only looking at the target and blanked out the rest”, said the 21-year-old Smit, quite thrilled with his effort.
Man Singh who had shot 149 out of 150 in the Asian shotgun championship in Kuala Lumpur, was one point behind Peoples at 121 in qualification, but a below par fare robbed him of a medal. He was the second to be eliminated after Sheeraz Sheikh had missed the second bird, as he missed the sixth. Actually, Man had missed a double on the fourth station in the final to ruin his chances.
Sole recipient
At the medal presentation, Rashmee Rathore was the lone recipient on the podium among the women as both the former champions Arti Singh and Saniya Sheikh were absent.
“I am happy to win my first National title. I was shooting well and was confident of a good score”, said the 29-year-old Rashmee who has given up a bank job to focus entirely on her shooting career.
The results: Skeet: Men: 1. Allan Daniel Peoples 146 (122); 2. Smit Singh 142 (33) 117; 3. Mairaj Ahmad Khan 142 (31) 120.
Team: 1. Punjab 353; 2. Uttar Pradesh 342; 3. Army 341.
