Rathore Jr wins trap gold at Asian Shotgun Championships

Manavaditya Rathore, son of Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Rathore, clinched the gold medal in junior men’s trap at the fourth Asian Shotgun Championships in Al Ain, UAE on Tuesday. This was India’s third gold in the continental tournament. Rathore shot 114 out of 125 to win the junior trap event in a shoot-off. The 15-year-old has been making steady progress over the years. Nicknamed ‘Milo’, he won the junior trap shooting title at the National Championships last year. This is by far his best international performance in a short career, bettering his third-place finish at the 2013 Asian Shooting Championships in Almaty. [caption id=“attachment_1788579” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Commenting on Manavaditya’s performance, NRAI president Raninder Singh said, “This showcases India’s strength in the world of shooting and how our youngsters like Manavaditya are the rightful stars of the future that India is going to bank on for years. “While the lack of required number of entries resulted in the junior trap event being converted to a Grand Prix, eluding Manavaditya of an Asian Championship gold, the precision and accuracy he showed makes me certain that he is not far away from earning many other big international medals for India.” Other members of the junior trap squad Sharan Susheel and Kismat Chopra shot 113 and 105, respectively. In men’s senior trap, Kynan Chenai finished 5th in the finals, after having shot an impressive 120 in qualification. The senior men’s trap team finished fourth overall with other members of the team namely Manav and Prithvi Raj Tondaiman shooting 115 and 114 respectively to add to Kynan’s tally. PTI