The sixth day of trials also saw qualifying rounds in the men’s and women’s 10m air rifle and air pistol events.
Asian Games gold medalist shooter Sift Kaur Samra won the inaugural Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Position Olympic Selection Trial (OST T1) while Niraj Kumar defeated four rivals in the men’s section at the Karni Singh Range Wednesday. Sift, the world record holder in this event, faced the in-form Ashi Choksey, the qualifying winner by far.
In the final, Ashi led by 1.1 points after the first 15 “kneeling” shots.
However, the Hangzhou Asian Games champion recovered brilliantly to win in the “prone” position, and by the end, she had not only erased the deficit, but also taken a 2.4 lead over her closest rival.
In the end, Sift’s 466.3 was 3.7 points above Ashi’s 462.6.
Olympian Anjum Moudgil took the last place on the podium with a score of 449.2.
Nishchal (433.6) and Paris quota holder Shriyanka Sadangi (416.7) had to settle for fourth and fifth places respectively.
In the men’s 50m rifle 3P, Niraj Kumar turned the tables on some of the favorites en route to victory with a final score of 462.2.
Paris quota holder and qualifier winner Swapnil Kusale (460.9) finished second, while Aishwary Tomar (450.5) finished third. Chain Singh (439.8) and Akhil Sheoran (429.1) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The sixth day of trials also saw qualifying rounds in the men’s and women’s 10m air rifle and air pistol events.
Sandeep Singh shot a superb 634.4 and Tilottama Sen (632.4) to take the top spots in the men’s and women’s 10m air rifle qualifications respectively.
Varun Tomar (583) and Rhythm Sangwan (578) topped the men’s and women’s 10m pistol qualification events.
The OST T1 finals for air rifle and air pistol will take place on Thursday.
With PTI inputs
