Indian Navy shooter Niraj stuns Paris medallist Swapnil Kusale, Karnataka on top of tally in National Games – India TV

Indian Navy’s shooter Niraj Kumar on Thursday stunned Paris Olympic Games medallist Swapnil Kusale in men’s 50-metre rifle 3 positions event in the 38th National Games in Uttarakhand. 

Representing the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), the 25-year-old Niraj clinched the gold medal in the event with a scoreline of 464.1 to secure the top spot. Madhya Pradesh’s Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar secured the silver with a score of 462. Notably, Maharashtra shooter Swapnil, who had created history in Paris as the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal in this event, settled for third place with 447.7 points.

Haryana’s Suruchi Singh and Parmod defeated Rajasthan’s Anjali Shekhawat and Umesh Choudhary 17-7 to clinch the gold medal in the 10-metre air pistol mixed team event.

Deepika Kumari, Juyel Sarkar become archery champions

Meanwhile, veteran archer and Olympian Deepika Kumari won the gold medal in the women’s archery, while 18-year-old Juyel clinched the yellow metal in the men’s category. The 30-year-old Deepika, who reached into the quarterfinals in the women’s event in the Paris Olympics, defeated Ankita of Bihar 6-4 to clinch the gold for Jharkhand. She also clinched a gold in the team event.

Juyel stunned four-time Olympian Tarundeep Rai on his way to his gold at the Nationals. The 18-year-old youngster defeated the 40-year-old Rai of Sikkim 6-2 in the semifinals, before outclassing  Indra Chand Indra of Services in the final with a 6-4 win.

Karnataka mantain top spot in medal-tally

Meanwhile, Karnataka are on top of the medal-tally yet again. They have 30 gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze, followed by Services on second with 28 gold, 12 silver and as many bronze. Maharashtra moved a place up to third with 19 gold, 36 silver and 33 bronze.