Asian Games medallist Ramita JIndal shot 636.4 in air rifle to brighten her chances for a ticket to Paris in the fourth Olympic shooting trials at the Madhya Pradesh Academy in Bhopal on May 18.
Yet, Ramita may not be able to celebrate as former world No. 1 Elavenil Valarivan with a deemed Olympic quota bonus of one point and Olympic quota winner Tilottama Sen, may just nose ahead of her when the averages are worked out after the finals on Sunday.
What was clear was that the World Championship silver medallist Mehuli Ghosh did not have the scores to back her claim for a Paris ticket, even though she shot an impressive 633.1.
Equally intriguing was the scenario in men’s air rifle in which rookie Sandeep Singh was the leader with an unbeatable average, while Olympic quota winners Arjun Babuta and World Champion Rudrankksh Patil looked to be locked in a close fight for the second berth, with the averages working in favour of Arjun.
Can we afford to drop the World champion on a decimal difference, or deny a rookie from gunning for an Olympic medal on his rightful spot are questions that the selection committee of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) would face before it finalises the Olympic squad.
There was no such doubt in women’s air pistol as Olympian Manu Bhaker, who had already ensured her spot in sports pistol, climbed to the top following 581. Rhythm Sangwan shot 572, her lowest in four trials, but had done enough earlier to be the second best ahead of Surbhi Rao, Esha Singh and Asian Games gold medallist Palak Gulia.
In men’s air pistol, Olympic quota winner Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema finished strongly to be clearly ahead of Olympic quota winner Varun Tomar, Ravinder Singh and Naveen.
The results:
10m air pistol: Men: 1. Sarabjot Singh 584; 2. Arjun Singh Cheema 583; 3. Varun Tomar 577; 4. Ravinder Singh 576; 5. Naveen 574.
Women: 1. Manu Bhaker 581; 2. Surbhi Rao 577; 3. Palak Gulia 573; 4. Rhythm Sangwan 572; 5. Esha Singh 572.
10m air rifle: Men: 1. Sri Karthik Sabari Raj 631.6; 2. Rudrankksh Patil 630.6; 3. Divyansh Singh Panwar 630.2; 4. Sandeep Singh 628.3; 5. Arjun Babuta 624.7.
Women: 1. Ramita Jindal 636.4; 2. Mehuli Ghosh 633.1; 3. Elavenil Valarivan 633.0; 4. Nancy Mandhotra 630.6; 5. Tilottama Sen 628.8.
50m rifle 3-position: Men: 1. Niraj Kumar 462.9 (586); 2. Chain Singh 461.2 (586); 3. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 449.8 (591); 4. Swapnil Kusale 439.0 (573); 5. Akhil Sheoran 423.8 (586).
Women: 1. Sift Kaur Samra 461.3 (593); 2. Nischal 460.3 (587); 3. Ashi Chouksey 448.1 (577); 4. Shriyanka Sadangi 438.0 (580); 5. Anjum Moudgil 427.2 (588).
