KSS Memorial Shooting Championship: Shooters Om Prakash Mitharwal, Vijay Kumar win double gold

New Delhi: Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Om Prakash Mitharwal edged 2010 CWG gold medallist Omkar Singh by just one point to clinch the gold medal in the 50m free pistol category at the 18th KSS Memorial Shooting Championship on Wednesday. London Olympic gold medallist Vijay Kumar also displayed his class as he bagged two gold medals for Haryana in the 25m center fire pistol individual and team event respectively. [caption id=“attachment_4555421” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Om Prakash Mitharwal. Image courtesy: Twitter @om_mitharwal[/caption] Army man Om Prakash, who won the World Cup mixed team gold medal in the 10m air pistol category, scored 560 and took the first spot on the podium. Omkar, serving in the Navy, stayed hot on Om Prakash’s heels to score 559 but the army man stayed calm when it mattered most to grab the gold medal. Another Army man Gurpal Singh, was also not far behind as he bagged the bronze with a score of 553. The Army marksmanship unit comprising of Om Prakash, Gurpal Singh and Jain Singh were in red hot form as they topped the charts with 1654 and annexed the gold in the 50m free pistol team event. Air Force’s Monu Tomar lead the charge as his teammates Ravinder and Deepak Malik aided in scoring 1641 and took the second spot. Dwindling with a score of 1626, the trio from Navy - Omkar Singh, Saurav Malik and Yogesh Singh had to settle for a bronze. In the 50m pistol junior category, Haryana’s Anmol Jain scored 552 to bag the gold while Surinder Singh settled for silver with 545. Delhi’s Suraj Bhambhani took the third spot on the podium with a score of 540. In the 25m center fire pistol (individual) category, Vijay Kumar (583) also had a heart in mouth moment as he pipped 2010 CWG gold medallist in the 25m rapid fire pistol category Gurpreet Singh (582) to emerge triumphant with a gold in nail biting encounter. In third spot, BSF’s Mahinder Singh also scored 582 but had to settle for bronze on virtue of his shots during the final round. The 10m air pistol women roster saw Abhidnya Patil of Maharashtra take the gold with 240.5 and left the former World No.1 Heena Sidhu biting the dust with a silver. Punjab’s Harveen Sarao claimed the third spot. The junior category of the 10M Air Pistol event saw the girl from Maharashtra continue her momentum as she took her second gold of the day while SSB’s Yogita had to settle for silver. Haryana’s Nayani Bharadwaj eared the bronze for her exploits.