Riya Shirish Triumphs Over Elite Competitors to Secure Her First Women’s 25m Pistol Title at Nationals

New Delhi, Dec 16 (NationPress) The talented teenager from Aurangabad, Riya Shirish Thatte, astonished a competitive field in the women’s 25m pistol final at the 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) hosted at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range (DKSSR) on Monday, marking her first victory at the senior national level. In a thrilling shoot-off, Riya outperformed Punjab’s Simranpreet Kaur Brar with a score of 7-2, after both competitors had tied at 31 hits in the eight series of five-shot decider. The bronze medal was claimed by Olympian and previous Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat, who recorded 25 hits.

Simranpreet concluded a remarkable year by securing the junior women’s title on the same day, in addition to her earlier silver medal at the senior level. In the junior shoot-off, she triumphed 5-2 over Haryana’s Payal after both had achieved a score of 34 hits. Riya also earned a bronze medal in this category with a total of 30 hits.

Riya’s father, Shirish, a former national-level shooter and her first coach, expressed pride as he accompanied his daughter, stating, “She had tears in her eyes. There is no shooting range in Aurangabad, and we had to travel 250 km to the Balewadi range in Pune, where Akshay Ashtaputre, also the coach of Swapnil Kusale, has been training her for the past five years. She aspires to shoot and bring honor to India.”

The senior finals featured a competitive field, including Simranpreet, who aimed for a spot in the Paris Olympics this year, as well as renowned former international shooters like Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh.

Previously, Simranpreet excelled in both qualification stages, achieving identical scores of 584. Riya, qualifying second in the junior category, earned her place in the finals, securing the eighth and final qualifying spot with a score of 576.