Rifle shooter Shimon Sharif struck a silver medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle event at the ongoing Delhi State Shooting Championships.

Sharif overcame heat and bad range conditions at Siri Fort sports complex shooting range.

The state competition was organised in a range which still has obsolete manual pulley targets and is not even air conditioned. The target pulleys need to be pulled back and forth manually by hand before and after each shot thus making things difficult.

Wearing thick canvas shooting jackets and trousers makes it even hotter and tougher for the rifle shooters. Usually the 10 meter ranges should be indoor air conditioned and have electronic pulleys. "It was a torture to shoot in this heat with the gear on", said Sharif after the match.

Shimon who also shot the second best among the Delhi rifle shooters at the last National Championship at Jalandhar, now becomes the favourite to make it to the Delhi team for the upcoming National Games in Jharkhand.

"Hopefully the selectors should put me in as I have the best average scores now", said Sharif

"This medal is very special as it is my 75th medal which I have won at various competitions in the last 15 years of my shooting. Although medals for me are coming at a much slower pace now as am more into the business of sports but am trying hard to make a come back in the top league like before", said Sharif who has also competed at the ISSF World Cup 2003 in Korea along with Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang.   

The rifle shooters of Manav Rachna Rifle Club dominated the state competition by winning four gold, one silver and two bronze medals. Mahati Srinivasan and Aman Deep bagged two gold medals each in both men and women air rifle events while Vidushi Jain bagged two bronze medals in women's air rifle events.