Anjum Moudgil of Punjab continued her brilliant run of form by winning the women 10m air rifle title while Bengal Mehuli Ghosh, the other star of the day, claimed the junior and youth gold medals at the 62nd National Shooting Championship in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
The 24-year-old Anjum, who is a 2020 Olympic quota winner in the event, followed up her 50m rifle three positions victory a day earlier with another top podium finish. Anjum shot a score of 249.1 in the final to lead a Punjab one-two with Jasmine Kaur winning the silver with 247.9. C. Kavi Rakshna of Tamil Nadu won the bronze with 226.0.
Another Olympic quota winner Apurvi Chandela of ONGC made it to the final with the third best qualification score of 628.2 but finished 4th.
Meghana Sajjanar of Karnataka topped the qualification with 629.4 but finished 5th while Anjum shot 626.2 to qualify on the 5th place, before turning the tables on her rivals in the final.
World Cup bronze medallist Pooja Ghatkar of Maharashtra also made it to the final with 624.4 but could only manage a 7th place.
The highly-talented Mehuli Ghosh of Bengal was the other star of the day winning gold in the the junior and youth category. This was Mehuli third consecutive junior gold at the Nationals after she won in 2016 and 2017.
Mehuli, who turns 18 tomorrow, was unable to make the cut in the seniors being able to only finish 10th with a qualification of 624.1. But, she did make good, as she captured both the junior and youth gold with ease. In the juniors, Mehuli topped the final with 249.1 and also won the youth gold with a very impressive 253.0 which is 0.6 point more than the senior world record.
C. Kavi Rakshna of Tamil Nadu won junior and youth silver with scores of 247.9 and 249.3 respectively adding to the senior bronze while Jasmine Kaur of Punjab took the junior bronze with 226.9. The youth bronze was won by Zeena Khitta of Himachal Pradesh with 227.1.
The Results:
Women’s 10m Air Rifle: 1. Anjum Moudgil (Punjab) 249.1 (626.2); 2. Jasmine Kaur (Punjab) 247.9 (626.3); 3. C. Kavi Rakshna (Tamil Nadu) 226.0 (625.8). Team: 1. ONGC (1868.5); 2. Rajasthan (1865); 3. Railways (1863.7).
Junior Women’s 10m Air Rifle: 1. Mehuli Ghosh (Bengal) 249.1 (624.1); 2. C. Kavi Rakshna (Tamil Nadu) 247.9 (625.8); 3. Jasmine Kaur (Punjab) 226.9 (626.3). Team: 1. Bengal (1861.6); 2. Tamil Nadu (1856.9); 3. Rajasthan (1856.7).
Youth Women’s 10m Air Rifle: 1. Mehuli Ghosh (Bengal) 253.0 (624.1); 2. C. Kavi Rakshna (Tamil Nadu) 249.3 (625.8); 3. Zeena Khitta (Himachal Pradesh) 227.1 (628.4). Team: 1. Bengal (1861.6); 2. Himachal Pradesh (1857.1); 3. Madhya Pradesh (1855.3).