Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's teenaged son Manavaditya clinched a bronze as Indian shooters dished out an impressive performance, winning seven medals, including two gold, at the ongoing third Asian Shotgun Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The event saw veteran trap shooter Manavjeet Singh Sandhu equal the Asian record of 124/125 in the preliminary stages and win the bronze medal in the seniors’ category.
Besides the two gold, India won as many silver and three bronze medals.
Manavaditya won the medal with a qualification score of 110/125 in junior trap event.
"I am impressed and proud that Manav at this very young age is taking on the big guns. He understands that age cannot be a barrier for talent. I can sense the great potential in him. I am equally proud of all juniors and my congrats to the seniors for their able leadership," Rathore senior said.
The senior trap team, comprising Manavjeet (124), Zoravar Singh Sandhu (121) and Mansher Singh (120), won the gold medal with all the three shooters reaching the finals after finishing at 3rd, 5th and 6th positions respectively. They totalled 365 out of 375.
Manavjeet also won the gold medal in the fourth Union Championship (Grand Prix) which was held concurrently with the 3rd Asian Shotgun Championship, thereby winning US $5000.
In the women's trap event, Seema Tomar reached the individual finals with a score of 70/75 and finished fourth.
G S Sharan, a junior trap shooter, won the silver medal with the qualification score of 119/125.
The team consisting of Sharan (119), Rathore (110) and Mohd Shees (100) bagged the trap junior gold with a total score of 329/375.
Seema Tomar (70), Shagun Chowdhary (66) and Shreyasi Singh (64) teamed up to clinch the trap senior women's team silver after aggregating 200/225.
In skeet junior, the team of Anantjeet Singh Naruka (113), Angadvir Singh Bajwa (112) and Hamza Sheikh (107) bagged a bronze with a total score of 332/375.
Image: Manavaditya Singh Rathore
