National selection trials: KC Hema pips Lajja Gauswami on the last shot

It was Lajja who led by 0.5 points before the last shot, but delivered a 7.4 on the 45th shot, as against 10.2 by Hema.

Both Lajja Goswami (in picture) and KC Hema had a modest 1152 in qualification, which was very good considering the sweltering conditions. (FILE IMAGE)

World Cup silver medallist Lajja Goswami faltered on the last shot while KC Hema shot consistently strong in the climax to emerge on top in women’s rifle 3-position event in the National shooting selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Wednesday. It was Lajja who led by 0.5 points before the last shot, but delivered a 7.4 on the 45th shot, as against 10.2 by Hema. Both the shooters had a modest 1152 in qualification, which was very good considering the sweltering conditions. Qualification topper Tejaswini Sawant (1163) who had won the gold ahead of Lajja in the Kumar Surendra Singh championship on Tuesday, finished fifth behind Sunidhi Chauhan and Elizabeth Susan Koshy. The scores may not help Hema and Lajja to gain a berth in the national squad, and thus they were relaxed after the intensity of competition, sharing a chocolate and some smile.

READ: Battle-hardened Gagan Narang keen to make 5th Olympics appearance Sunidhi, who is trained in the Madhya Pradesh Academy by Olympian Suma Shirur, had shot 1175 in the last World Cup in Munich and had narrowly missed qualifying for the final. Olympian Anjali Bhagwat (1149) who had shot the silver the previous day had a string of 8s in the last series of qualification and missed the final by one point. In the junior women’s section, it was Zenab Hussain Bandookwala who prevailed by 1.7 point over Yashika Shinde. Olympian Gurpreet Singh continued to dominate the 25-metre standard pistol event, as he shot 581 once again in the trials, after having won the gold the previous day. Adarsh Singh who finished second with 576, topped the junior list ahead of the World Champion Sidhu twins, Vijayveer and Udhayveer. The organisers have planned the Kumar Surendra Singh championship and the national selection trials in such a way that shooters complete their events in quick succession, which has spread the competition to about a fortnight. ALSO READ: Battle-hardened Gagan Narang keen to make 5th Olympics appearance

The results: 50m rifle 3-position: Women: 1. KC Hema 454.4 (1152); 2. Lajja Gauswami 452.1 (1152); 3. Sunidhi Chauhan 442.4 (1155). Junior women: 1. Zenab Hussain Bandookwala 445.6 (1141); 2. Yashika Shinde 443.9 (1135); 3. Prasiddhi 433.1 (1135). 25m standard pistol:Men: 1. Gurpreet Singh 581; 2. Adarsh Singh 578; 3. Vijayveer Sidhu 576. Junior men: 1. Adarsh Singh 578; 2. Vijayveer Sidhu 576; 3. Udhayveer Sidhu 573.