Young shooter Aishwary Tomar emerges victorious in invitational RR Lakshya Cup

Eighteen-year-old Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar emerged victorious in the 10m senior category event of RR Lakshya Cup, an all-India invitation air-rifle tournament held on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_7630601” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Aishwary Tomar. Twitter@OfficialNRAI_opt[/caption] The Madhya Pradesh shooter, who won the Olympic Quota place in 50m Rifle 3 Position earlier in 2019, was trailing Yash Vardhan of Rajasthan in the first 10 shots. However, consistent scores of 10.7, 10.8 and one 10.9 helped Tomar surge ahead to win with a final tally of 252.3. Sixteen-year-old Vardhan finished second with 250.7 while Assam’s Hriday Hazarika, a Lakshya Shooting Club trainee, finished third and won the bronze medal, a media release said. The tournament is organised by Lakshya Shooting Club, founded by Olympian Suma Shirur. “The confidence after securing Olympic Quota Place has increased. To me, Lakshya Cup is a follow-through match after the national championships. This helps me stay in the competitive atmosphere,” said Tomar, who went home richer by Rs one lakh. “I don’t go to any competition thinking of winning a medal. To me, it is about giving your best.” Last year, Tomar had won silver in the junior category. Last year’s winner in the senior category, Divyansh Singh Panwar, finished fifth in the final. “The expectations of defending the title was high. As all the shooters are of the same, tough level, the pressure is very high. That said, the experience I gained from this tournament is very good,” said Panwar, who secured Olympic quota place in the men’s 10m air rifle. 2018 Youth Olympics silver medallist Shahu Mane shot 615.9 in detail 2 preceding the final, but it was not good enough to take him to the final. The 17-year-old from Kolhapur had recently shot 629.3 in the qualification round of the men’s junior section of the recent Asian Shooting Championships in Doha before eventually winning bronze. “I tried technically different things today. I am getting ready for 2020, the Khelo India Youth Games in Assam in January 2020 being the immediate next and the major goal being the World Junior Championships in Suhl, Germany, in July,” Mane said. Meanwhile, Thane shooter Rudrankksh Patil came back strongly in the last eight shots to tally 249.9 and pip Pawan Andhare for gold in the junior section. Andhare totalled 249.1.