Manu Bhaker, topper Suruchi Phogat, and Rahi Sarnobat.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Suruchi Phogat continued to assert her class as she beat double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker by 1.1 points for the top spot in the women’s air pistol in the National shooting selection trials at the Trishul Academy in Maharana Pratap Sports College in Dehradun on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Suruchi, who has swept all three individual gold medals in the three World Cups in Buenos Aires, Lima and Munich, qualified in the first place with 585. In the final, she stayed ahead of the pack with a strong lead and emerged on top despite a 9.9 last shot.
Rahi Sarnobat, the sports pistol exponent, showcased her grip on air pistol by placing third ahead of Esha Singh, who shot the second-best qualifying score of 581.
Pranjali Dhumal, Simranpreet Kaur Brar, Priya Muralidhar and Sakshi Suryavanshi were the others to make the final.
In men’s air pistol, Samrat Rana beat former world No. 1 and Olympic finalist Saurah Chaudhary by 0.2 points for the top spot. Aditya Malra placed third ahead of Amanpreet Singh, Kamaljeet, qualification topper Aakash Bhardwaj (584), Vikash Kumar and Rajan Tomar.
In men’s rifle 3-position event, Niraj Kumar topped yet again as he beat qualification topper Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (595) by two points.
World Cup gold medallist Akhil Sheoran beat Olympic medallist Swapnil Kusale to the third spot. Goldi Gurjar, Nikhil Tanwar, Babu Singh Panwar and Hemant Bhicher were the others to make the final.
The results: 10m air pistol: Men: 1. Samrat Rana 241.7 (582); 2. Saurabh Chaudhary 241.5 (582); 3. Aditya Malra 217.8 (581).
Women: 1. Suruchi Phogat 245.6 (585); 2. Manu Bhaker 244.5 (578); 3. Rahi Sarnobat 223.1 (580).
50m rifle 3-position: Men: 1. Niraj Kumar 463.0 (592); 2. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 461.0 (595); 3. Akhil Sheoran 448.8 (589).
Published – June 29, 2025 07:36 pm IST
