National Shooting Championship: Varun Tomar clinches double in men’s air pistol
National Shooting Championship: Varun Tomar clinches double in men’s air pistol
Varun Tomar, reigning Asian champion and a decorated ISSF medalist, achieved a remarkable double victory at the 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) for Pistol events being played at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range in New Delhi. He secured gold in both the senior and junior men’s 10m air pistol categories.
The 21-year-old Army marksman who narrowly missed out on last year’s Paris Olympics squad, overcame a sluggish start in the senior final to snatch a maiden national crown at the expense of teammate Pradhyumn Singh, who fell short by 0.8 points. Rajasthan’s Aakash Bhardwaj won bronze.
He then had a similar start in the junior final before quickly making ground, staying in touch with silver winner Nikhil Saroha of Uttar Pradesh (U.P) who was on a start-to-finish mission. His patience finally paid off after the 21st shot as Nikhil blinked with an 8.5, handing the senior pro an easy double in the end.
Varun achieved a score of 238 in the senior final. However, he demonstrated greater confidence and accuracy in the junior final, culminating in a score of 246.2. Pradhyumn also rounded off a fruitful day with a second medal, a bronze in the junior men’s air pistol.
The youth final saw a U.P 1-2 when Chirag Sharma overcame the 14-year-old cynosure of all eyes Dev Pratap by margin of 1.3 after 24-shots. Chirag finished with 241.8. Rajasthan’s Mayank Choudhary won bronze.
Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are 1-2-3 on the medal tally at the Pistol nationals with 23, 22 and 13 golds won respectively.
