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Wednesday, Dec 17, 2008
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Double delight for father-son

Sports Reporter

46-year-old Darius claimed his maiden National title
Anwer Sultan took the silver, Mansher Singh the bronze

JAIPUR: It was a double delight for the Chenai family from Hyderabad as father Darius and son Kynan won the trap event in the 52nd National shotgun championship at the Oases range here on Tuesday.

The 46-year-old Darius, who started focusing on shooting seven years ago, was the dark horse as he claimed his maiden National title.

His 17-year-old son, Kynan, a gold medallist in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, retained his junior crown.

Darius, who qualified as the third best shooter, missed only two birds for a 23 out of 25, to total 141.

Late realisation

He did not realise that he had emerged winner.

Only when Kynan jumped from the stands and rushed to his dad to congratulate him, did Darius come to know about his achievement.

“I did not know; it’s a rare delight that both I and my son have won on the same day. It is one of those days,” said a smiling Darius, who shot 118 (23, 22, 25, 24, 24) in the qualification series.

“It’s a major achievement for me. I owe it to Raninder Singh as he provided his range in Patiala for practice where I and my son shot under Italian coach Marcello Dradi,” acknowledged Darius, who had not made the final in the last edition.

Kynan overwhelmed

Kynan was overwhelmed by his dad’s feat. “It’s his performance which has made me so happy. Today, he was amazing,” he said.

Silver for Sultan

Anwer Sultan took the silver and Mansher Singh settled for the bronze after going through a tie-breaker for the second place as the two had an identical 140.

Sultan garnered 120 (22, 25, 24, 25, 24) while Mansher had 121 (24, 24, 25, 23, 25) during qualification.

“Darius shot brilliantly in the final and surprised us. When Mansher missed so many, I was sure that I would win. Anyway, I am glad to be shooting good scores once again. It is a new beginning for me,”, said Anwer, who pipped Mansher 2-1 in the tie-shoot for the silver.

In the junior section, 15-year-old G. Sharan Susheel, who picked up the gun just six months back, amazed all with his showing to bag the silver medal, five points behind Kynan Chenai.

The scores: Men (final): 1. Darius Chenai 141 (118); 2. Anwer Sultan 140 (2) 120; 3. Mansher Singh 140 (1) 121; 4. Anirudh Singh 133 (113); 5. Birendeep Sodhi 132 (112); 6. Talaha-ul-Islam 124 (113).

Team: 1. Uttar Pradesh 343, 2. Punjab 328, 3. Andhra Pradesh 325.

Juniors: 1. Kynan Chenai 111, 2. G. Sharan Susheel 106, 3. Rayyan Rizvi 104.

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