Former World Cup winner Narmada Nithin Raju overcame a strong field, which included Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal and Olympian Elavenil Valarivan, to not just create a national record but miss equalling the world mark by a fraction of a point on her way to clinching gold in the women’s 10m air rifle event at the 38th National Games in Dehradun on Thursday. Among other results, Haryana’s 2022 World Championships silver medallist Anish Bhanwala bagged gold in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event.
Narmada, representing Tamil Nadu, clinched the top podium finish with a score of 254.4, beating back the challenge from Maharashtra’s Arya Borse (252.5) and Ramita (230.4) in the eight-shooter final.
In the process, she broke the national mark of 252.9 set by Olympian Apurvi Chandela at the 2019 World Cup in New Delhi. The world record in the event is 254.5 points, set by Huang Yuting of China at last year’s ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi.
“I can’t express how happy I am. Representing my state is always a point of pride. Handling pressure on the range is part of the game, but today, it all came together,” Narmada said.
Reflecting on her journey, Narmada had some words for young athletes.
“Instead of looking for role models, be your own. Push yourself every day, and you’ll find success.” This was 23-year-old Narmada’s third-biggest career achievement in the event after she had won the 10m air rifle mixed team gold partnering Rudrankksh Patil at the 2023 Cairo World Cup and bagging a bronze at the World Cup in Bhopal the same year.
Self-assured and in total control of her nerves, Narmada, who was third at the end of the qualification round on Wednesday, shot a string of superb scores to stamp her authority over her more illustrious rivals in the final.
She consistently shot high scores with three of her shots achieving maximum impact of 10.9, while another two shots in the 24-shot final fetched her 10.8. She didn’t go below 10 in any of her 24 shots in the final.
Maharashtra’s Arya Borse, 22, too enjoyed a great outing and, on any other day would have clinched a top-podium finish with a score 252.5 but the 2022 junior world cup gold medallist in team event wouldn’t have known before the final that Narmada would come up with a record-breaking performance.
Haryana’s Asian Games bronze medallist shooter Ramita, 21, who had shot a superb qualification-round score of 634.9 to top the qualification, had to settle for a bronze medal despite coming up with another loaded performance, which saw her shoot consistently 10-plus scores.
Meanwhile, Bhanwala finished with 31 hits, three ahead of the silver medallist Gurpreet Singh of Services (28 hits) in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol final. Vijayveer Sidhu (Punjab) secured the bronze with 26 hits.
Bhanwala, who returned to competition after a lengthy break, was all smiles following the victory.
“This is my first medal after the Paralympics, and it feels great to be back. This is my second gold at the National Games my first was in Ahmedabad. The long break has been tough, but it’s all part of the journey,” he said.
Shooting is one discipline where many of the top players are taking part in the National Games.
All the shooters, who competed in the Paris Olympics last year, with the exception of double-medallist Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh, will be seen in action in the National Games.
In total, 364 shooters are representing 29 teams at the National Games, making shooting the star attraction of the Games.
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