Kiran Jadhav upstages Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale for 50m rifle 3P title at shooting nationals

Kiran Jadhav defeated Asian Games silver medallist Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Paris 2024 Olympics bronze winner Swapnil Kusale to clinch the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions title at the National Shooting Championship Competitions 2024 on Wednesday.

Competing at the MP Shooting Academy in Bhopal, the 29-year-old Kiran Jadhav scored 155.8 in the kneeling position, 155.3 in the prone and 155.2 in the standing round for a total of 465.8. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, with a total of 463.1, came second.

Swapnil Kusale started the shooting final well, scoring 156.6 and 157.5 in the kneeling and prone rounds, respectively. However, below-10 scores of 9.2, 9.4, 8.9 and 9.5 in the standing round saw him settle for bronze with a total of 451.8

At Paris 2024, Swapnil Kusale won India’s first-ever Olympic medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions event with a score of 451.4.

Earlier, Swapnil Kusale topped qualification by equalling the national record of 593 out of 600. Aishwary Pratap Singh’s 592 placed him second while Kiran Jadhav, part of the Indian air rifle team that won the gold medal at the 2022 World Championships, came fourth with a total of 590.

Niraj Kumar, Babu Singh Panwar, Goldi Gurjar, Nishan Budha and Rohit Kanyan completed the line-up for the eight-man final. Former 10m air rifle world champion Rudrankksh Patil finished ninth in the qualifying round and could not progress further.

The National Shooting Championship Competition 2024 for rifle shooters in Bhopal will end on December 31. The National Championship for pistol shooters being held at the Dr Karni Shooting Range in New Delhi will end on January 5.