National Shooting Championship: Rajasthan’s Darshna Rathore pips India’s top ranked Ganemat Sekhon to win women’s skeet title

Darshna Rathore of Rajasthan pulled off a major upset at the National Shooting Championship as she pipped India’s top-ranked shooter Ganemat Sekhon to become the women’s skeet champion.

Rathore, who is also the Khelo India Youth Games champion, defeated Ganemat Sekhon of Punjab 50-46 in the National Championship. The victory secured her maiden national shooting title at the New Moti Bagh Gun Club in Patiala.

Sekhon, however, won the gold medal at the Junior Women’s skeet shooting event. She defeated Areeba Khan of Uttar Pradesh in a shoot-off after both had leveled at 50 hits in the six-woman final.

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Darshna Rathore, on the other hand, clinched the bronze medal in the junior event with a score of 41 in the medal round.

The Women’s Skeet competitions marked the first medal event of the 64th National Shooting Championship Competition (NSCC) in the Shotgun event. It is being held at the Patiala venue from November 22 to December 14, 2021.

Earlier, Ganemat Sekhon had topped the 31-strong field in qualification with a score of 117 out of 125 in qualification. Darshna Rathore shot 113 to qualify for third spot behind Areeba, who shot 116. The bronze in junior women’s Skeet was bagged by Raiza Dhillon of Haryana, who shot 36 in the final.

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Saurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker yet to begin National Shooting Championship campaign

India’s top ranked 10m pistol event shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker are yet to begin their National Shooting Championship campaign.

Chaudhary, who will be representing Uttar Pradesh, will be in action on November 26 alongside Tokyo Olympian Abhishek Verma. Manu Bhaker, on the other hand, will take to the range on December 1.

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The Shooting Nationals are being held concurrently in Patiala, Delhi and Bhopal. While Shotgun and Pistol nationals are presently ongoing, the Rifle Nationals are scheduled to begin in Bhopal on November 26, 2021.