Maharashtra's Ananya Naidu Clinches Gold in Women's 10m Air Rifle at National Shooting Championships

Bhopal, Dec 31 (NationPress) Maharashtra's Ananya Naidu has emerged victorious in the women's 10m Air Rifle category at the ongoing 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) (Rifle), securing a score of 252.5 in the final held at the M.P. State Academy (MPSA) shooting range here on Tuesday.

She narrowly outperformed the seasoned Meghana Sajjanar from the Railways by just 0.2 points, marking her first senior national title. The bronze medal was claimed by R. Narmada Nithin from Tamil Nadu, who finished with a score of 231.3.

Naidu established a lead of 1.4 points after the initial five shots and maintained her dominance throughout. In the final two shots of the 24-shot competition, both Ananya and Meghana scored a total of 20.6 points, captivating the audience present in the Finals Hall and those watching online.

During the qualification rounds, Ananya was positioned 8th. Her state-mate Arya Rajesh Borse led the qualifiers with a score of 633.3 points, while Narmada Nithin consistently performed well, securing second place in qualifications with a score of 632.9 points.

Ananya's remarkable journey saw her transform from a last-place qualifier to the eventual champion.

In the 10m Air Rifle Junior Women event, Gautami Bhanot claimed first place with a score of 251.5. The silver medal went to Mayuri Laxman Pawar from Maharashtra, who was tied with Gautami at 168.0 points at one point, but Gautami's tally of 21.6 in the final shots surpassed Mayuri's 20.5, allowing her to regain the lead. Disha Dhankar from Haryana took home the bronze with a score of 229.9 points.