Key Points

Olympian Anish Bhanwala continued his stellar form, securing back-to-back wins in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event. Tamil Nadu’s Narmada Nithin clinched gold in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle, narrowly defeating Sonam Maskar. The qualification rounds saw fierce competition, with Mehuli Ghosh leading the women’s air rifle field. The trials remain intense as top shooters vie for selection in upcoming international events.

Key Points: Olympian Anish Bhanwala and Narmada Nithin dominate National Shooting Trials

  • Anish Bhanwala dominates men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol with back-to-back wins
  • Narmada Nithin edges Sonam Maskar in Women’s 10m Air Rifle final
  • Mehuli Ghosh tops qualification in star-studded women’s air rifle field
  • Tight competition in both events with close scores among top shooters
2 min read

National Shooting: Anish bags double, Narmada wins air rifle

Anish Bhanwala wins double in 25m Rapid Fire Pistol while Narmada Nithin triumphs in Women's 10m Air Rifle at National Shooting Trials.

"Anish maintained his top form to register a score of 30 and claim his second consecutive final win of the trials. – Competition Report"

Dehradun

, June 27 (IANS) Former world champion and Olympian Anish Bhanwala won back-to-back trials in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (Men) event, while Tamil Nadu’s Narmada Nithin clinched the top spot in the Women's 10m Air Rifle on Day Four of the National Selection Trials 3&4 for Group ‘A’ Rifle and Pistol shooters, currently underway at the Trishul Shooting Range, Maharana Pratap Sports College, here in Raipur.

Narmada shot a composed 253.7 in the 24-shot final to edge out ISSF World Cup Final silver medalist Sonam Uttam Maskar by 1.7 points. Delhi’s Rajshree Anilkumar secured third place with a score of 230 after 22 shots.

Earlier in a star-studded women’s air rifle field, Narmada finished sixth with a score of 629.5 in qualification. World Championship medalist Mehuli Ghosh topped the qualification round with 632.2, just 0.1 ahead of Sonam, while Rajshree was a close third at 631.9 after six series of 10 shots each.

Shreya Agrawal (630.5), 50m 3P T4 winner Vidarsha K Vinod (630.3), Ayonika Paul (629.4), and Dnyaneshwari Jayveer Patil (629.3) completed the T3 final line-up.

In the men’s 25m RFP T4 final, Anish maintained his top form to register a score of 30 and claim his second consecutive final win of the trials. Navy’s Pradeep Singh Shekhawat pushed him all the way but had to settle for silver with 29, while Anish’s teammate from Haryana, Adarsh Singh, took third place with 23 shots.

Anish had also topped the T4 qualification round with 584-20x, again bagging a double in the qualifications. Adarsh followed with 581-14x, finishing ahead of fellow Haryanvi shooter Mandeep Singh (579-16x).

Bhavesh Shekhawat (577-10x), Udhayveer Sidhu (576-15x), and Pradeep Singh Shekhawat (574-22x), all contributing to a tightly contested field.

The trials continue on Day Five (Saturday, June 28, 2025) with three finals on the schedule: 10m Air Rifle Women T4, 25m Pistol Women T4, and 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men T3.

Anish is coming into the third and fourth rounds of the trials after the Munich World Cup. Anish, as has been for a while now, was a facile winner in the men’s Rapid Fire Pistol. He qualified third for the six-man final with a score of 581 and then shot two perfect series of 5-hits in the eight 5-shot series decider, to ensure all others were always playing catch-up. Rajasthan’s Bhavesh Shekhawat came in second with 34 hits, while Punjab’s Vijayveer Sidhu won bronze.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

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Rahul K.
What a performance by Anish Bhanwala! 🇮🇳 He's proving why he's one of our best shooters. Hope he brings more medals in international competitions too. The competition in rapid fire pistol seems intense with Adarsh and Pradeep pushing hard. Future looks bright!
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Priya M.
Narmada Nithin's victory is so inspiring! 👏 Beating experienced shooters like Sonam shows her potential. But I wish the article gave more background about her journey - how she started shooting, her training routine etc. Would love to know more about our rising stars.
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Arjun S.
The depth in women's air rifle is amazing! So many shooters within 3 points of each other. Shows how competitive Indian shooting has become after Bindra's gold. Hope all these talents get proper support and exposure to shine at Olympics.
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Shalini V.
While the results are impressive, I'm concerned about the lack of media coverage for shooting sports outside major events. These athletes train so hard but don't get half the attention cricket gets. Doordarshan should broadcast these trials live!
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Vikram J.
Haryana continues to dominate shooting sports! Anish, Adarsh, Mandeep all from Haryana. What's their secret? Maybe other states should learn from their sports academies. Punjab and Rajasthan shooters also doing well. Northern states leading the charge 💪
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Neha T.
The article mentions "T3" and "T4" trials but doesn't explain what these mean. Would help if journalists explained such technical terms for common readers. Otherwise great coverage of our shooting stars! #SupportIndianSports

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