National selection trials: Shahzar Rizvi tops in men’s air pistol

The 24-year-old shooter beat the qualification topper and Asian Games bronze medallist Abhishek Verma by 1.7 points.

Shahzar Rizvi had won a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in South Korea in 2018.

He may not shoot the big scores in qualification, but once in the final, Shahzar Rizvi is often hard to stop.

The 24-year-old Shahzar, who had won the gold on World Cup debut in Guadalajara last year with a world record in the final, attempted to resurrect his career as he topped men’s air pistol in the third National shooting selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.

It was a surprise that Shahzar, who had also won a silver last year in the World Cup in South Korea, lost his way and could not figure in the national team, which was spearheaded by the young Saurabh Chaudhary. Ever since the Asian Games in 2018, Saurabh seems to be having a midas touch.

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Shahzar shot 242.0, after qualifying with 581, and beat the qualification topper and Asian Games bronze medallist Abhishek Verma by 1.7 points.

With Saurabh likely focussing on the preparations for the Asian Air Gun championship, Abhishek did well to consolidate his averages with a qualification score of 587.

Cheema takes third place

Arjun Singh Cheema, who shot 583, placed third, ahead of Gaurav Rana, Arjun Das, Dharmendra Singh, Hemendra Kushwaha and Anil Singh Yadav. Arjun Singh Cheema topped both the junior and youth sections, in which there were no finals.

In the 50-metre free pistol, which has ceased to be an Olympic event, Om Prakash Mitharval topped with 564, eight points ahead of Arjun Singh Cheema in the fourth trials. Gaurav Rana placed third by overtaking World Cup medallist Amanpreet Singh and World Championship silver medallist Jitu Rai.

• 10m air pistol
• Men: 1. Shahzar Rizvi 242.0 (581); 2. Abhishek Verma 240.3 (587); 3. Arjun Singh Cheema 219.6 (583).
• Junior men: 1. Arjun Singh Cheema 583; 2. Gaurav Rana 579; 3. Kunal Rana 578.
• Youth men: 1. Arjun Singh Cheema 583; 2. Arpit Tomar 575; 3. Sarabjot Singh 572.

• 50m free pistol
• Men: 1. Om Prakash Mitharval 564; 2. Arjun Singh Cheema 556; 3. Gaurav Rana 556.
• Junior men: 1. Arjun Singh Cheema 556; 2. Gaurav Rana 556; 3. Abhishek Arya 547.