Commonwealth Games: Shreyasi lands 'milestone' gold

Brisbane: Shreyasi Singh shot her way to a gold medal in the women’s double trap while there was a bronze each for Om Mitharval and Ankur Mittal, as India’s shooters extended their domination in the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Wednesday.

Shreyasi aggregated 96 in the finals, same as Emma Cox, but prevailed over the Australian in a shoot-off by striking both targets even as her opponent in her second attempt.

Harvard University student Varsha Varman finished fourth with 86, narrowly missing out on a bronze to Scotland’s Linda Pearson, who shot 87.

Mitharval settled for bronze in the men’s 50m pistol event with 201.1 but the fancied Jitu Rai finished a disappointing eighth with 105.0.

Ankur Mittal (left) en route to his men’s double trap bronze at the Belmont Shooting Complex.

Mittal added to the medal rush by grabbing a bronze in the men’s double trap event even as Mohammed Asab (43) finished fourth, a rung down from the bronze he won in Glasgow four years ago.

Mittal finished third after scoring 53 in the finals at the Belmont Shooting Centre.

Shreyasi called it the “milestone medal” of her career, made more special by the fact that shooting will not be a part of the next Commonwealth Games.

“This is the highest medal of my career, right up there. It is also very special because shooting is not going to be a part of the Commonwealth Games in 2022,” Shreyasi said after her feat.

Shreyasi, daughter of former National Rifle Association president Digvijay Singh, whom she lost on the eve of the 2010 Delhi Games, was in complete disarray then.

Cut to 2018, the 26-year-old is basking in glory and says she will cherish this medal for a “very long time”.

Om Mitharval poses with his bronze in the men’s 50m pistol event. (Photo: AFP, AP)

In the women’s double trap, Shreyasi shot rounds of 24, 25, 22 and 25 and the two shooters finished with 96 each from their 120 shots in four rounds. Shreyasi held her nerve in the shoot-off to have the last laugh. 

In a dramatic final round, Shreyasi was among the first batch of shooters and her score of 96 meant that Emma, who was in the second batch, needed 19 out of 30 to win gold.

Having hit 23, 28 and 27 in the previous three rounds, Shreyasi looked destined for a lesser medal. But as it happened, wind conditions changed, it became cloudy and Emma shot 18 to tie with Shreyasi at the top.

In the men’s 50m pistol, Rai and Mitharval qualified for the eight-man final. Australia’s Daniel Repacholi won gold in the event with a final score of 227.2, a Games record while Bangladesh’s Shakil Ahmed bagged silver with 220.5.

In the day’s last final, Mittal shot 53 out of 60 while Asab shot 43 out of the first 50 targets. Scotland’s David McMath finished with 74 for another Games record to beat Tim Kneale of Isle of Man (70), for gold.