Darius Chenai Wins Men’s Trap Gold ahead of Federation President Raninder Singh and former World Champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu

New Delhi, December 20, 2015: In probably the only instance of its kind in Indian sport, two office-bearers of the national federation fought for top honours in a Senior National Championship, when the Joint Secretary General of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) Darius Chenai and the federation President Raninder Singh, squared off for the Men’s Trap Shooting Gold medal match up at the 59th National Shooting Championship at the JDA Shooting Range in Jaipur. Darius clinched the Gold eventually with Raninder claiming the Silver, while former Trap World Champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu bagged the Bronze.
 
Extremely delighted at the result, Mr. Raninder Singh, President, NRAI, said, “It is obviously a matter of great personal satisfaction that I managed to win a medal in the midst of a high quality field, but what has given me even more satisfaction is the high scores registered by juniors like Kismat Chopra and Manaviditya Singh Rathore. In fact, I am told that five of the top 12 scores eligible for India selection have been registered by juniors and that is the biggest takeaway from the Men’s Trap for me. I also congratulate Darius on a terrific performance. Both our scores are however not eligible for India selection and the next two best performances will count.”
 
Darius, shooting for Telengana had been the last man into the final with a qualification score of 116 after he won a shoot-off with Kismat Chopra of Delhi. Raninder had qualified in third position with a score of 118. India internationals Prithviraj Tondaiman of Tamil Nadu and Zoravar Singh Sandhu (Air India) qualified in the top two positions shooting scores of 121 and 119 respectively. Trap ace Manavjit Sandhu shot 117 to qualify in fifth position.
 
In the semi-final stage however Darius and Raninder both shot 14 birds to tie for Gold medal bout. Manavjit finished third with a score of 13 pairing up with Prithviraj Tondaiman for the Bronze medal match up after the latter shot a score of 12. Darius then shot 13 to Raninder’s 11 in the Gold-medal match up to claim the title of National Men’s Trap champion. Manavjit got the better off Tondaiman by 12 to 11 to claim Bronze.
 
The Junior Men’s Trap Gold was won by Vishwa Kundu of Haryana while Kismat Chopra won the Silver and Adhiraj Singh Rathore of Rajasthan won the Bronze. Manavjit was not to be denied a Gold medal however when he teamed up with veteran Mansher Singh and Vishvadev Singh Sidhu to clinch the Men’s Trap Team Gold for Punjab. Darius led Telengana team to the Silver while U.P won the Bronze.