Olympic shooting trials: Arjun, Nancy take top spot in air rifle; Rhythm places first in air pistol

Olympic quota winner Varun Tomar was too sharp in men’s air pistol as he topped the final with 244.1 points, after having emerged on top in qualification with 583.

Mehuli Ghosh, topper Nancy Mandhotra and Elavenil Valarivan in women’s air rifle in Olympic selection trials in Delhi on Thursday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

Arjun Babuta shot a world record score of 254.0 to beat world champion Rudrankksh Patil by 2.8 points for the top spot in men’s air rifle in the Olympic shooting trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Thursday.

Olympic quota winner, Arjun beat the world record of 253.7 set by former world No.1 Divyansh Singh Panwar in the Cairo World Cup earlier this year. Sri Karthik Sabari Raj did well to reach the third spot, ahead of Divyansh and qualification topper Sandeep Singh (634.4).

In women’s air rifle, Nancy Mandhotra beat the World Championship silver medallist Mehuli Ghosh by 0.7 points for the top spot, while former world No.1 Elavenil Valarivan took the third place.

Olympic quota winner Tilottama Sen was pushed to the fourth spot while Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal placed fifth.

Olympic quota winner Varun Tomar was too sharp in men’s air pistol as he topped the final with 244.1 points, after having emerged on top in qualification with 583. The other Olympic quota winner Sarabjot Singh placed third behind Ravinder Singh.

Rhythm Sangwan did her confidence a world of good as she topped women’s air pistol, beating Manu Bhaker by 5.7 points after having topped qualification with 578. Asian Games gold medallist Palak Gulia placed third, ahead of Surbhi Rao and Esha Singh.

The results:

10m air rifle:

Men: 1. Arjun Babuta 254.0 (629.4); 2. Rudrankksh Patil 251.2 (630.5); 3. Sri Karthik Sabari Raj 229.6 (630.9).

Women: 1. Nancy Mandhotra 253.4 (631.2); 2. Mehuli Ghosh 252.7 (630.7); 3. Elavenil Valarivan 230.5 (628.7).

10m air pistol:

Men: 1. Varun Tomar 244.1 (583); 2. Ravinder Singh 240.0 (574); 3. Sarabjot Singh 217.4 (575).

Women: 1. Rhythm Sangwan 243.5 (578); 2. Manu Bhaker 237.8 (572); 3. Palak Gulia 217.5 (572).