Olympic athlete from Tokyo Manu Bhaker won the women’s 25m pistol event in India shooting trials took place this week at the Dr Karni Singh shooting range in Tughlakabad, Delhi. The trials lasted from January 8 to January 14.
Weekly trials were divided into two categories (Groups A and B). Group A consisted of the top Indian shooters, while Group B consisted of shooters eligible for open selection trials.
For global and continental events offering Olympic quotas in 2023, the national team will be selected from group A shooters only.
Placed in Group A, Manu Bhaker won the first trial qualifier with 581 points and a final score of 27. Chinese woman Yadav from Madhya Pradesh came second with a final score of 21 while Esha Singh from Telangana finished third.
Manu Bhaker, who won the gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, was just as consistent in his second attempt and won the qualifying with 590 points and then a final score of 27. Abhidnya Ashok Patil finished second with 26 points. time while Niveditha Nair finished third.
World champion Rudrankksh Patil, who secured India’s entry to the Paris 2024 Olympics in November, won the second Group A 10m Air Rifle attempt, beating Chain Singh 17-13 in the gold medal round. Patil finished fourth in the qualifying round while Chain was sixth.
Rudrankksh Patil also reached the final of the first attempt, but was stunned by Lagad Saurav Gorakh in the final by a score of 17-9.
Sift Kaur Samra won a double in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position (3P), winning both finals in the trials against the country’s top scorer in the category, Anjum Moudgil.
West Bengal’s Mehuli Ghosh (Women’s 10m Windbreaker) won the first attempt and Ramita won the second attempt in the same category.
London 2012 silver medalist Vijay Kumar, who is on his way to a comeback, was beaten by Vijayveer Sindhu in the first men’s 25m rapid fire pistol trial. In the second attempt, which Ankur Goel won, he did not advance to the top eight.
Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar won the first attempt of the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) and the second was won by Akhil Sheoran.
