NEW DELHI
Olympian Gurpreet Singh shot 295 out of 300 with a series of 99, 98, 98 in the first stage of 25-metre rapid fire pistol in the fifth National shooting selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Saturday.
Anish Bhanwala (292), Udhayveer Sidhu (289), Anhad Jawanda (288), Bhavesh Shekhawat (288), Arpit Goel (287), Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar (286) were some of the other leading scorers at the half way stage of competition.
The second stage of competition followed by the finals will be held for rapid fire pistol on Sunday.
It will also be a packed day of five other finals. The junior rapid fire pistol finals will also be there on Sunday. The men’s air rifle and women’s rifle 3-position events will be held on Sunday, along with the junior events.
Only two of the six finals are scheduled to be held in the final hall, men’s air rifle and rapid fire pistol. The rest of the finals will be held in the 10-metre, 25-metre and 50-metre qualification ranges.
The cream of Indian shooting is set to compete in these two selection trials, as it would lead to the naming of teams for the World Championships, Asian Games and Asian Championships. The World Championship will offer four Olympic quota places in each of the 12 events in pistol, rifle and shotgun. The Asian Championship will offer two Olympic quota places in each event.
Indian shooting has won three Olympic quota places for Paris so far, through Rudrankksh Patil (air rifle), Bhowneesh Mendiratta (trap) and Swapnil Kusale (rifle 3-position).
