Navy’s Kiran Jadhav clinched the men’s 10m air rifle open event of the 15th RR Lakshya Cup shooting championship at the Kamala Sports Academy in Panvel on Sunday.
He shot in between 10.4 and 10.8 over the last 12 shots for a spectacular finish with 630.9 ahead of early leaders Gajanan Khandagale and Mohit Gowda. The 29-year-old is a trainee at the Lakshya Club from 2015.
“I have been in the finals every time since 2018. It is a special feeling, winning the gold for the first time. I believe in enjoying every moment of the sport and go with the flow,” Kiran, who collected a cash prize of INR 1,50,000, was quoted as saying by sportstar.thehindu.com.
The silver and bronze medallists bagged INR 75,000 and INR 40,000 respectively.
Arjun Babuta, Olympian, finished fourth after finishing top in the qualification round with 634.8.
Divyansh Singh Panwar and Sandeep Singh, the other Olympians, failed to make the cut in the final.
Haryana’s Himanshu and Shruti dominated the junior category.
The junior champion bagged INR 75,000, while the second and third places were rewarded INR 40,000 and INR 20,000 respectively.
“I had missed out on selection for the Junior World Championship last year, when I finished fourth. This win gives me the confidence to fare better and make it to international competitions this year,” said the 19-year-old Himanshu.
The results:
10m air rifle: Open: 1. Kiran Jadhav 251.7 (630.9); 2. Gajanan Khandagale 250.9 (631.6); 3. Mohit Gowda 229.3 (630.5).
Juniors: 1. Himanshu 251.5 (632.1); 2. Shruti 250.4 (628.9); 3. Anvii Rathod 229.3 (630.4).