Vinayak Padmadeo
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 29
A big rivalry is brewing at the shotgun ranges, one that can push one of two shooters to Olympics greatness. Angad Vir Singh Bajwa and Mairaj Ahmad Khan continued their fight to be on the top of the podium from the Lusail shooting range in Doha to New Delhi’s Karni Singh Shooting Ranges today. And as at Doha, it was Angad who just about edged the experienced Mairaj to win the skeet gold medal at the National Championships.
Representing Punjab, Angad, who turned 24 today, equalled his own world record by shooting down all 60 targets, two more than Mairaj’s count of 58. The bronze medal was won by Punjab’s Gurjot Singh, who shot down 46 clay birds.
This was the second time in less than three weeks that the two skeet shooters fought for gold. In the Asian Championships at Doha, the final was decided in a shoot-off after Angad and Mairaj finished on 56 shots apiece. Friday’s record will not be recognised by the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF), the sport’s governing body, but that doesn’t matter to Angad. “I knew I had done it before, so I could do it again,” Angad told The Tribune. “After qualification, I thought that I have defended my Asian title, and I have to defend my national title also. Mairaj was pushing me and so I stuck to my basics and did what I had to and did not think anything else until the last shot, which was for the world record.”
Top in qualification
Earlier, it was Mairaj who set the range on fire as he registered an eye-catching score of 125/125 after five qualification rounds. “I am happy with my score. In fact I had been shooting well for the last two months. I had a good hit in Doha too,” Mairaj said after the final.
“Angad shot an unbeatable score today. Nine times out of 10 you cannot beat that score and the only option for me was to repeat it in order to force a shoot-off. It didn’t happen, no worries... 58 in final is also a good score,” the 44-year-old added.
Rest, planning
As the dust settles, the two quota winners have plans to keep themselves fresh leading to the Tokyo Olympics. Angad will miss the trials scheduled to be held in Bhopal from December 7 to 14. “I will be taking a break, I’ll be resting for a bit,” Angad said.
Similarly, Mairaj plans to skip the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi (March) and Baku (June) to avoid fatigue before the Olympics. “I think I will skip the World Cup in Delhi and Baku,” he said. “But my coach, Ennio Falco, thinks I should be shooting at our home range. We’ll see. But once thing is sure, I will not be seen shooting too much... Otherwise you tend to get mentally fatigued.”
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