Former world champion and four-time Olympian Manavjit Singh Sandhu made the most of his experience to win the men’s trap event at the Shotgun National Selection Trials that concluded at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range on Tuesday.
After missing five targets in the qualification on the first day, Manavjit scored 24 and 25 on the second day. He finished fourth after the shoot-off. Manavjit also finished second in the second semi-final to make it to the final. He hit 21 out of 25 targets correctly. In the final, Manavjit however missed the first target but after that, he shot 14 consecutive correct shots to break the challenge of Lakshjeet Singh Sindhu and won with three shots remaining. Manavjit hit 29 of the initial 32 targets while Sindhu managed only 25.
Meanwhile, India’s international shooter and national record holder Rajeshwari Kumari also won the women’s trap T3 (3rd) trial to boost her morale ahead of the ISSF World Cup Shotgun competition starting in Cairo on April 25. Rajeshwari, who finished seventh in the qualification, also made it to the final after a shoot-off. She beat Manish Keer 30-27 to win the title.
Recently ISSF World Cup gold medalist Sarabjot Singh of Haryana won the Men’s 10m Air Pistol T4 Trial. While his own state’s Anuradha Devi won the Women’s Air Pistol T4 Trial in Bhopal. T3 and T4 rifle/pistol trials were also completed in Bhopal. While Sarabjot also won the Men’s 10m Air Pistol T4 National Selection Trials by beating Punjab’s Arjun Singh Cheema 16-12. It was Sarabjot’s first ISSF World Cup gold medal of his career.
In the junior men’s and women’s National Selection Trials trap classification, Bakhtyaruddin Malek and Aashima Ahlawat topped the table with scores of 117 and 114 respectively. In the women’s category, Anuradha Devi of Haryana won the Women’s 10m Air Pistol T4 Trial. She defeated her own state’s Palak 17-11.
