New Delhi: It was a day dominated by Army marksmen in the 50M Pistol category at the 58th National Shooting Championship Competitions at the Shri Chhatrapti Shivaji Balewadi Shooting Range in Pune on Sunday. Commonwealth and Asian Games Gold medalist, army marksman Jitu Rai walked away with the gold medal in the 50M Pistol men’s individual and team events. The Army marksmen with a total of 1590 won the gold medal for the 50M Pistol in the Junior Men’s team category. Local talent Sumedh Kumar Devlalivala shot a total of 536 points to walk away with the gold medal in the 50M Pistol Jr. Men’s Event, at the ongoing 58th National Shooting Championship.

Jitu who took the pole position in the 50M Pistol event qualification round with a total of 555 finished the finals without any change in his position shooting a total of 193 points, falling short of a single point to match his own personal record of 194 points in the category, which he shot at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year. Fellow Army marksman Gurpal Singh finished second with a total of 189.8 points while Samresh Jung from CISF finished third with a total of 168.5.

In the team event the Army marksmanship unit of Jitu Rai, Jai Singh and Manjit reigned supreme shooting a total of 1656 points to walk away with the gold medal. Air India marksmen, Deepak Sharma, Zakir Khan and Md. Asif Iqbal Khan finished second for the Silver medal with a total of 1627 points, while Air Force Marksmen, Ravinder, Kapil Kumar and Monu Tomar finished third with a total of 1611 points.

In the 50M Pistol Junior Men’s Event, Local boy Sumedh Kumar Devlalivala and army youngster Prashant Malik shot identical totals of 536 points, but the latter had to settle for the Silver medal thanks to Sumedh’s higher inner ten’s. Suraj Bhambani from Delhi had to be content with the Bronze medal with a total of 530 points.

In the 50M Jr. Men’s Team event the Army Marksmen unit of Prashant Malik, Vasen and Manoj Pal stamped their authority with the gold medal shooting a total of 1590 points. The Silver medal for the category was won by the Maharashtra team of Sumedh Kumar Devlalivala, Sanchit Agashe and Vikas Dhama scoring a total of 1556 points. Tribhuvan Kanwar, Siddharth Kishore Mishra and Yash Modak representing Delhi had to settle for the Bronze Medal with a total of 1526 points.

Punjab marksman Akshay Jain walked away with the gold medal in the 50M Pistol Civilian Category with 546 points, while Railways marksman Vipin Rana finished second with 546 points and Md. Asif Iqbal Khan from Air India settled with the Bronze Medal with a total of 540 points. In the team event Maharashtra (Sumedh Kumar Devlalivala, Rachit kapadia, Bagul Rajendra) walked away with the Gold medal with 1583 points, followed by Punjab (Akshay Jain, Jaspal Singh, Avtar Singh) with 1576 points. The railways team (Vipin Rana, Jitendra Vibhute and shyamal Kr. Das) had to settle with the bronze medal with a total of 1573 points.

The 58th National Shooting Championship Competitions are being held at the Shri Chhatrapti Shivaji Balewadi Shooting Range, Pune. The National Rifles Association of India in association with the Maharashtra Rifles Association of India is organizing the event from the 12th – 24th of December 2014.