International debut with golden hat-trick! Dhanush wins three golds at Asian Shooting Championships

Doha, November 13: Making international debut in glorious fashion, Dhanush Srikanth made a hat-trick of gold medals at the ongoing 14th Asian Shooting Championships in Qatar.

 

Dhanush won an individual, a team and a mixed gold with Shreya Agrawal in 10m air rifle men’s junior competitions. Srikanth first qualified for the finals with a relatively sedate 625.3, and then romped home with a 248.2 in the eight-man 24-shot final, leaving silver winner Jiang Xuanle of China a whole 2.5 points behind. In Mixed event, the Indian pair defeated the Chinese duo of Wang Zeru and Jiang Xuanle on Monday to clinch the gold. 

 

Hailing from Telangana state, Dhanush had won gold medals in district events before switching over to shooting because of his hearing impairment. Within a short span Dhanush began to create ripples and shot gold in Khelo India Games last year. At the senior state level shooting championship this year, the young shooter shot a perfect 400/400. For London Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang, it is a huge success story as he is preparing Dhanush for the 2024 Olympics. “I was stunned with his work ethics, focus and his commitment for the sport. He is a born talent,’’ said Gagan.