Chinki Yadav beat two Olympians and World Cup gold medallists, Rahi Sarnobat and Heena Sidhu, in winning the women’s 25-metre sports pistol gold in the 17th all-India Kumar Surendra Singh memorial shooting championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Thursday.

It was an impressive performance by the 20-year-old Chinki, who is coached by Jaspal Rana and Ved Prakash, as she beat Rahi 34-30.

In the junior final Gauri Sheoran took the gold, ahead of Muskan and Chinki Yadav. There was more surprise in the men’s 50-metre free pistol, as Jitu Rai ended up eighth, after qualifying in the second place in a field of 100 shooters.

All the three eventual medallists had scored 550 in qualification, and Tinjit Dhanota beat Arjun Singh Cheema and Gurpal Singh for the gold.

A shot in the arm

In a big boost for new aspirants, Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel inaugurated a mini 10-metre shooting range at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Thursday.

The mini range, to be used for air pistol and air rifle, with manual targets will be for beginners, and would serve as the ideal platform for them to hone their skills before graduating to the electronic targets.

The use of the mini range will be open for the public, and rates have been fixed as Rs. 200 for daily, Rs. 3000 per month and Rs. 36,000 per year.

Athens Olympics silver medallist, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who is also the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, congratulated the Sports Minister on the initiative and said it would help in popularising the sport.

The results: Men: 50m free pistol: 1. Tinjit Dhanota 230.3 (550); 2. Arjun Singh Cheema 230.0 (550); 3. Gurpal Singh 206.6 (550).

Juniors: 1. Anmol Jain 224.2 (547); 2. Arjun Singh Cheema 222.8 (550); 3. Shubham Baliyan 202.4 (536).

Women: 25m sports pistol: 1. Chinki Yadav 34 (572); 2. Rahi Sarnobat 30 (583); 3. Heena Sidhu 27 (579); Juniors: 1. Gauri Sheoran 31 (559); 2. Muskan 27 (574); 3. Chinki Yadav 24 (572).