Tokyo Olympian Manu Bhaker and Paris quota holder Vijayveer Sidhu have won the fourth and final Olympic Selection Trial in 25m pistol events at the MP State Shooting Academy in Bhopal on Tuesday.
Bhaker shot a world record-equalling 42 in the women’s 25m pistol final, while Sidhu shot 34 in the decider of the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event to emerge triumphant.
The Tokyo Olympian completed a dominant display in the four trials by winning two and finishing as runner-up in just as many. She was also the only competitor in the women’s 25m event to score over 580 in each qualification round.
Abhidnya Patil (35) was second and Simranpreet Kaur Brar (30) took home the final available podium spot on Tuesday, while Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan were fourth and fifth respectively.
In the men’s rapid fire final, Sidhu took the lead after the second five-shot series and held on till the eighth and final series to register his first outright victory in the trials. Anish Bhanwala was second with 30 while Adarsh Singh was third with 25. Ankur Goel (20) and Bhavesh Shekhwat (18) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Bhanwala however, was the most successful of the five in the event, having won two trials and coming second in the other two Shekhawat had won the second trial while Sidhu finished as runner-up on three trials.
Wednesday will see the qualification rounds of the highly competitive men’s and women’s 50M Rifle 3 Positions event play out with local hopes Aishwary Tomar and Ashi Chouksey set to participate.
The final team for the Paris Olympics will only be declared after a meeting of the selection committee post the trials.
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