Pune: India’s only Olympic gold medalist in shooting, Abhinav Bindra showed that despite now taking it only as a hobby, he has it in him to continue winning. The 32-year Punjab marksman shot a total of 208 to walk away with the gold medal, defending his 10 M Air Rifle National title at the ongoing 58th National Shooting Championships at the Balewadi Shooting Range Pune.

Bindra had revealed his decision to only train twice a week just before the 2014 Asian Games where he won a bronze medal. Olympic silver medalist Vijay Kumar shot a total of 571 to become the new national champion in the 25M Standard Pistol category.

Army marksman Satyendra Singh finished second with a total of 207.2 in 10M Air Rifle event, while Haryana’s Sanjeev Rajput settled for the Bronze Medal shooting a total of 185. Ironically, Rajput had taken the pole position in the qualifications shooting a total of 624 while Abhinav trailed the Haryana marksman by 3 points. In the team event the Army Marksmanship Unit of Satyendra Singh, Chain Singh and Chavanke Ashok won the Gold Medal shooting a total of 1857.5 points. Punjab finished second with a total of 1846.3 and the Air Force team settled the Bronze Medal with a total of 1842.9.

In the 25M Standard Pistol’s, Army marksmen Vijay Kumar and Gurpreet Singh walked away with the Gold and Silver Medals respectively shooting a total of 570 and 571 respectively. Omkar Singh from Navy settled for the Bronze medal with a total of 568. In the team event the Army Marksmanship Unit won the Gold Medal with 1684 points while the Silver went to BSF with 1675 points. The Navy team settled for the Bronze Medal with 1665 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.