Shardul Vihan and Bhavya Tripathi triumph in trap

Shardul Vihan shines at National Shotgun Championship, winning men's trap gold; Bhavya Tripathi defends women's crown.

Shardul Vihan was a class act as he defeated defending champion and Asian Games silver medallist Lakshay Sheoran 45-42 for the men’s trap gold in the 67th National shotgun championship on a cold and gloomy morning at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Thursday.

It was a commendable fare from the 22-year-old Shardul who had made the final by winning the last berth after a shoot-off with four others.

“I was just enjoying shooting and was not thinking about the result, in the final or in the shoot-off to make the final. I am glad that I have won all four gold medals in the Nationals,” said Shardul who had earlier won the junior trap and the men’s and junior double trap gold medals.

Shardul had won the Asian Games silver in double trap in 2018. He gave credit to former World champion Khaled Almudhaf of Kuwait for honing his skills in the last two years in trap.

Almudhaf was at the range watching the competition and was thrilled to see another of his trainees, Bhavya Tripathi, defend the women’s crown. She beat Sabeera Haris 9-8 in the shoot-off for the gold after the two were tied on 41 at the end of the 50-shot final.

Shrestha Sisodiya shot the bronze ahead of Neeru, Kirti Gupta and qualification topper Rajeshwari Kumari. She won the junior gold with a 44-41 win over Sabeera.

In the men’s final, Olympian Prithviraj Tondaiman finished with a bronze, ahead of Zuhair Khan, Jaswinder Sngh and Zoravar Singh Sandhu.