Anjum Moudgil and Sift Kaur Samra in the women’s event, and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Swapnil Kusale in men’s event will represent India in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions discipline at the 2024 Paris Olympics in July.
The top two shooters of both the events were identified after the conclusion of their respective Olympic Selection Trials 4 qualification rounds on Friday at the MP State Shooting Academy ranges.
India No 1 and world record holder Samra returned with a splendid score of 593, while Olympian Moudgil finished second with a solid 588, as both ensured they would finish 1-2 in the five-woman field.
In the men’s event, local favourite Tomar shot a third successive score of 590 or above, to not only top the qualifications, but also take an unassailable lead at the top of the standings. Kusale, meanwhile, was also assured of a second-place finish in the standings on the basis of his first three trials scores, despite finishing fifth on the day with a 573.
Both the 50m Rifle 3 Positions finals for the Olympic Selection Trials 4 is slated to be conducted on Saturday, but these four shooters can’t be toppled from a top-two finish.
Manu Bhaker wins 10m air pistol T3
The day also saw four finals listed with Manu Bhaker winning the women’s 10m Air Pistol T3, edging out Esha Singh by 0.8 with a score of 241.0.
The range however was lit up by Naveen in the men’s 10M Air Pistol final, when he shot a score of 246.8 – 0.3 above the existing world record score, to sail to victory. Such was his dominance that second-placed Sarabjot Singh trailed by a huge 4.4 points.
Those results however did not change the situation much as Varun Tomar and Rhythm Sangwan continued to lead the field in the men's and women's sections respectively, with a tight race brewing up for second place. It will be all to play for, when they line-up for the T4 qualifications on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Ramita Jindal took the first of the two Air Rifle finals, posting 252.6 to edge past Olympian Elavenil Valarivan by 0.5 in the women’s 10m Air Rifle T3 event.
Nancy was third, going out in a shoot-off to Evlarivan, while Mehuli Ghosh and Tilottama Sen were fourth and fifth respectively.
In the men’s 10m Air Rifle final, Sri Karthik Sabari Raj took an early lead in the 24-shot shootout and held on after coming through two shoot-offs for the title against Divyansh Singh Panwar. Both ended on 252.5.