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Shagun wins gold, sets national record
Shagun, who fired a perfect 25 in her third qualifying round, failed to maintain her rhythm in the finals, reports Saurabh Duggal.
RIDING HIGH on her recent Asian clay championship silver-medal winning performance, Jaipur shooter Shagun Choudhary shot down gold with a national record to boot in the women's trap event at the Sardar Sajjan Singh Memorial Championship in village Main, Patiala on Wednesday.
At the New Moti Bagh Gun Club, she shot a total of 86 (69 + 17) and created a national mark in the qualifying round (69/75).
Seema Tomar, who earlier held the national record of 68, came a distant third with a total of 70. She had a final round of 17. Varsha Tomar grabbed the silver with a score of 75 (59 + 16).
In the junior women's section, Shreyasi Singh clinched gold with a score of 64 (49+15).
Shagun, who fired a perfect 25 in her third qualifying round, failed to maintain her rhythm in the finals. "The NMBC range turned out to be a lucky one for me. Not only did I fire my career's first perfect 25, I also created a new record in qualifying," said Shagun.
"I was expecting a better score in the final round but unfortunately I failed. May be, I got carried away by my qualifying round performance… I will ensure that such a thing doesn't happens again," she added.
Mansher Singh leads
After three rounds in the men's section, veteran trap marksman Mansher Singh came up with a superb 72 out of 75 to top the leader-board. Zorawar Singh followed him with 70. World champion Manavjit Singh, veteran Anwar Sultan and young Birendeep Sodhi were tied third at 69. "In the first round, I had a perfect 25 and in the next I missed just one. In the last round of the day, I was going steady until I missed two consecutive birds --- on 9th and 10th," he said. "Moreover, this is not the right time to peak for the Beijing Games," he added.
The remaining two qualifying rounds and the finals will be held on Thursday.
