Chinki pips big names to grab Day 1 honours

Bhopal’s Chinki Yadav overcame the likes of former world number one Heena Sidhu to win the 25 metre pistol women’s event at the XVII Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial shooting championship which got under way at the capital’s Dr Karni Singh range. She also clinched a bronze in the junior women’s section of the event to emerge the outright star on Day One.

Chinki qualified fifth for the eight woman final but held her nerve in the 10 five-shot series final to emerge triumphant with a score of 34. India international Rahi Sarnobat of Maharashtra grabbed the silver with a score of 30 while Heena took bronze on 27.

Rahi, however, won the gold in the women’s team event along with Shreya Gawande and Saee Godbole logging 1,713 points to beat Haryana and the Heena Sidhu-led ONGC to silver and bronze positions, respectively.

Haryana’s Gauri Sheoran clinched the junior women’s title getting the better of team mate Muskan 31-27 in the final. Chinki shot 24 to settle for the bronze.

In the men’s 50m pistol event, Punjab’s Tinjit Dhanota won the gold while Arjun Cheema took the silver and Gurpal Singh got bronze.

Arjun also had a silver in the junior men’s 50m pistol where Haryana’s Anmol Jain sealed the gold. Delhi’s Shubham Baliyan took the bronze. Arjun grabbed his third silver, in the 50m pistol team event, where Army Team led by Jitu Rai, Gurpal Singh and Jai Singh won the gold.