Former national shooting coach Sunny Thomas no more
Former national shooting coach and Dronacharya awardee Sunny Thomas died at his residence in Uzhavoor here on Wednesday morning following a brief illness, family sources said. He was 84.
Thomas, who played a crucial role in positioning Indian shooting on the global stage, was the national team coach for 19 years, from 1993 to 2012.
A college professor by profession, Thomas himself was a five-time state shooting champion and a national champion in 1976.
Sunny Thomas with Abhinav Bindra in 2001. | Photo Credit: M LAKSHMAN/HINDU
During his tenure as coach, the Indian shooting team won medals in various international events, including the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
The nation recognised his contributions by bestowing him with the Dronacharya Award in 2001.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Indian junior women's hockey team beats Belgium 3-2
The Indian junior women's hockey team made a positive start to its tour of Europe with a 3-2 win over hosts Belgium here on Sunday. India opened the scoring through Geeta Yadav (11th minute). However, in the second quarter, Belgium equalised through Marie Goenns (25th). Soon Belgium took the lead as Louise van Hecke (34th) found the back of the net. India made a valiant comeback and levelled the scores through Sonam (40th). The visitors continued to attack, and the tactic paid off as they won a penalty corner soon, which was converted by Lalthantluangi (45th). After that, the Indians did not let Belgium get the equaliser with some stout defending. India will again play Belgium on June 10 in the second game of their European tour.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
India win six gold on day two to dominate Taiwan Open athletics
The Indian contingent won as many as six gold medals, including double podium finishes in women's 800m final and long jump competition, on the second and final day of Taiwan Open international athletics championship here on Sunday. Three-time national champion Vithya Ramraj, Rohit Yadav, Pooja, Krishan Kumar and Annu Rani won the gold medal in their respective events in an impressive outing by the Indian contingent. Also winning gold was the team of Santosh T, Vishal TK, Dharamveer Chaudhary, and Manu TS, the quartet finishing on top of the podium in the men's 4x400m event with a championship record of 3:05.58s to sign off the country's successful campaign on a positive note. Yashas Palaksha rallied to win silver in the men's 400m hurdles with a personal best timing of 42.22s, the result giving a big boost to his confidence after missing out on the 2025 Asian Championships. Vithya clocked 56.53s to strike gold in the women's 400m hurdles event, her third best time of the year helping the athlete to gain some useful ranking points for the upcoming World Championships. The athlete from Tamil Nadu competes in 400 metres hurdles, 400 metres and 4×400 metres relay. Before this, she had clocked 56.04s in the Federation Cup final and 56.46s in the Asian Championship final. Rohit could not breach the 75m mark in the men's javelin throw competition but a best throw of 74.42m was enough for him to claim gold in the event. Taipei's Huang Shih-Feng won silver with a throw of 74.04m, while his compatriot Cheng Chao-Tsun was third with an effort of 73.95m. Pooja won the women's 800m final with a championship record time of 2:02.79s to edge past compatriot Twinkle Chaudhary, who clocked 2:06.96s to clinch silver. Krishan Kumar then came back from behind to win the top prize in the men's 800m final with a time of 1:48.46s, which is also a new championship record. In the women's javelin final later in the day, Annu Rani struck gold after she threw the spear at a distance of 56.82m. The Indian could not improve on her season's best performance but the sub-57 metre throw was enough for her to finish ahead of silver winner Hatarabage Lekamalage (56.82m) of Sri Lanka and Taipei's Pin-Hsun Chu (53.03m). In the women's long jump event, India's Shaili Singh (6.41m) and Ancy Sojan (6.39m) then won the silver and bronze medals respectively, finishing behind Australia's Delta Amidzovski (6.49m), who won the gold medal.
India Gazette
2 hours ago
- India Gazette
"The wait was worth every second": Rinku Singh gets engaged to Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj in Lucknow
ANI 09 Jun 2025, 02:27 GMT+10 Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 9 (ANI): Indian cricketer Rinku Singh and Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj got engaged in a ceremony in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow on Sunday. The southpaw posted on his official Instagram handle. 'This day has been in our hearts for so long - almost three years - and the wait was worth every second Engaged - with full hearts and a forever to go. ' Indian batter Rinku Singh and Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj held a grand engagement ceremony today, which had many political leaders and cricketers. Since the conclusion of the T20 World Cup, Rinku has become a regular in the format but has yet to earn a spot in the ODI format. Rinku has featured in two ODIs for India and holds pretty impressive List-A numbers. The southpaw has garnered 1,899 runs in 52 innings, averaging 48.69 while striking at 94.8. His excellent numbers include one hundred and 17 half-centuries. In 33 T201 matches and 24 innings, Rinku has scored 546 runs at an average of 42.00 and a strike rate of 161.06, with three half-centuries. He's yet to smash his maiden T201 century. The 27-year-old made his T201 debut against Ireland in 2023. Rinku has been one of the main players for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has played 59 matches in the T20 tournament and scored 1099 runs at a strike rate of 145.20. He slammed four half-centuries in the cash-rich tournament. (ANI)
