Army’s Ajay Kumar and Karnataka’s Jonathan Gavin Antony showcased impressive performances during a thrilling day at the 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions held at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range. Ajay clinched the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol Men’s final, while Jonathan completed an outstanding campaign by securing a rare Sub-Youth, Youth, and Junior treble in men’s air pistol events.
10m Air Pistol Men’s Final
Ajay Kumar exhibited composure to claim the gold medal with a score of 241.1, narrowly beating Railways’ Shubham Bisla, who finished with 240.1 to take silver. Haryana’s Anmol Jain secured the bronze medal with a score of 220.0.
The finals saw Haryana’s Shiva Narwal finishing fourth with 197.2, while Navy shooters Aakash Bhardwaj and Ujjawal Malik placed fifth and sixth, scoring 177.8 and 157.3, respectively. Rahul Serawat of Rajasthan took seventh with 136.6, while Punjab’s Arjun Singh Cheema rounded out the final lineup in eighth with 115.8.
The qualification round was fiercely contested, with Ujjawal Malik, Rahul Serawat, and Shiva Narwal each shooting 584. Malik topped the qualification with 584-22x, followed by Serawat at 584-17x and Narwal at 584-17x. Other finalists included Arjun Singh Cheema (583-23x), Anmol Jain (583-22x), Ajay Kumar (583-20x), Shubham Bisla (583-16x), and Aakash Bhardwaj (582-25x).
Among noted competitors, Sarabjot Singh finished 19th with 580-22x, reigning World Champion Samrat Rana was 71st with 576-20x, and defending champion Varun Tomar had a disappointing day, placing 99th with 575-16x.
Tamil Nadu Triumphs in Trap Mixed Team
In the shotgun range, Tamil Nadu defeated Madhya Pradesh 36–35 in the Senior Trap Mixed Team gold medal match. Olympian R. Prithviraj Tondaiman led the Tamil Nadu team with 19 hits, aided by Nilaa Rajaa Baalu’s 17 hits.
National Women’s Trap champion Neeru Dhanda and Arshad Hasan Khan had to settle for silver, scoring 20 and 15 hits, respectively. The bronze medal went to Rajasthan, which overcame Haryana 42–37, thanks to Vivaan Kapoor’s 25 hits and Manvi Soni’s 17.
During qualifications, Madhya Pradesh topped the standings with a score of 136, led by Neeru Dhanda (69) and Arshad Hasan Khan (67). Tamil Nadu was second with 134+2, ahead of Rajasthan at 134+1 after a shoot-off. Haryana secured the last spot in the bronze medal match by scoring 133+6, edging out Punjab and Delhi.
Jonathan Gavin Antony’s Hat-trick
In the Youth Men’s final, Jonathan secured the top position with a score of 240.0, while Punjab’s Guntajpreet Singh claimed silver with 236.0. Uttar Pradesh’s Savej Khan earned bronze with a score of 214.3. Harsh Kumar Haldkar of Madhya Pradesh finished fourth with 195.9, followed by Abhay Dhama (174.7), Aryan (152.5), and Jatin Nirwal (125.6), all representing Uttar Pradesh.
Later that day, Jonathan returned for the Junior Men’s final and once again showed his mettle, winning gold with 240.5. Haryana’s Shiva Narwal narrowly missed the title, finishing second with 240.3, while Rajasthan’s Yogesh Kumar took bronze on 218.2. Uttar Pradesh’s Abhay Dhama (198.3) and Jatin Nirwal (178.9) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Punjab’s Guntajpreet Singh and Madhya Pradesh’s Harsh Kumar Haldkar finished sixth and seventh.
Other Results
10m Air Pistol Team Events:
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Men’s Team:
- Navy (Ujjawal Malik, Aakash Bhardwaj, Arpit Tomar) – Gold (1743.0-70x)
- Karnataka (Jonathan Gavin Antony, Siddharth Prakash Divate, Darren K Dawn) – Silver (1734.0-70x)
- Uttar Pradesh (Harsh Swami, Gaurav, Chirag Sharma) – Bronze (1734.0-54x)
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Junior Men’s Team:
- Haryana (Kapil, Priyanshu Yadav, Samrat Rana) – Gold (1733.0-60x)
- Rajasthan (Yogesh Kumar, Pankaj Jaat, Sandeep Bishnoi) – Silver (1732.0-55x)
- Uttar Pradesh (Himanshu Rana, Pankaj, Chirag Sharma) – Bronze (1731.0-61x)
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Youth Men’s Team:
- Haryana (Priyanshu Yadav, Shubham Chauhan, Ankush) – Gold (1726.0-59x)
- Punjab (Guntajpreet Singh, Armaan Singh, Dishant Thakur) – Silver (1726.0-48x)
- Madhya Pradesh (Harsh Kumar Haldkar, Jatin, Yugpratap Singh Rathore) – Bronze (1722.0-45x)
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Sub-Youth:
- Jonathan Gavin Antony (Karnataka) – Gold (581-23x)
- Abhay Dhama (Uttar Pradesh) – Silver (580-18x)
- Mohin Khan (Uttar Pradesh) – Bronze (579-16x)
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Deaf Men:
- Abhinav Deshwal (Uttarakhand) – 576-15x
- Chirag Rathi (Haryana) – 563-11x
- Chetan Hanmant Sapkal (Maharashtra) – 561-11x
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Men Civilian:
- Rahul Serawat (Rajasthan) – Gold (584-17x)
- Jaypal Malviya (Madhya Pradesh) – Silver (582-20x)
- Harsh Swami (Uttar Pradesh) – Bronze (582-16x)
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Junior Men Civilian:
- Guntajpreet Singh (Punjab) – Gold (581-17x)
- Jatin Nirwal (Uttar Pradesh) – Silver (581-14x)
- Abhay Dhama (Uttar Pradesh) – Bronze (580-18x)
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Men’s Civilian Team:
- Uttar Pradesh (Harsh Swami, Himanshu Rana, Naveen Singh Pannu) – Gold (1736.0-59x)
- Madhya Pradesh (Jaypal Malviya, Harsh Kumar Haldkar, Yugpratap Singh Rathore) – Silver (1731.0-48x)
- Rajasthan (Hemant Singh Choudhary, Abhishek Choudhary, Tanmay Kumar) – Bronze (1727.0-56x)
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Junior Men Civilian Team:
- Uttar Pradesh (Abhay Dhama, Himanshu Rana, Pankaj) – Gold (1736.0-61x)
- Rajasthan (Tanmay Kumar, Mayank Choudhary, Mohit Singh) – Silver (1712.0-52x)
- Rajasthan (Ashish Singh, Alok Saini, Anshul) – Bronze (1711.0-58x)
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Master Men:
- Babu Ram (Chandigarh) – Gold
- Sib Kumar Ghosh (West Bengal) – Silver
- Samaresh Jung (CISF) – Bronze
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Senior Master Men:
- Arun Tewari (Uttar Pradesh) – Gold
- Ajit Jayant Kharkar (Maharashtra) – Silver
- Vijay Kumar (Tamil Nadu) – Bronze