India, Jan. 8 -- Young shotgun shooter Zuhair Khan had been waiting for the moment when he would win the senior national title ever since he decided to pick up a gun after watching his father compete. That day finally arrived earlier this month at the Karni Singh Shooting Range, when the 20-year-old clinched the trap gold at the National Championships, outshooting seasoned stalwarts and Olympians.

A third-year BTech student at Aligarh Muslim University, Zuhair took up the sport at 12 and had been relentlessly pursuing a senior national medal, only to miss it each time despite reaching the final on three previous occasions. "This is my first senior national medal. I have two bronze medals in the junior category. I had reached the senior f...