National Shooting Championship: Rahi Sarnobat, Manu Bhaker shine

Rahi wins gold in 25m sports pistol while Manu clinches silver; Manu also wins gold in the junior category.

Rahi Sarnobat shot 41 to win gold in the 25m sports pistol.

Asian Games gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat and young sensation Manu Bhaker asserted themselves as two of the best in women’s 25-metre sports pistol in the 63rd National Shooting Championship on Wednesday. While Rahi dominated both in qualification and the final, to win the gold nine points ahead of Manu Bhaker, the latter was able to add the junior gold to the women’s silver.

However, Olympic quota winner Chinki Yadav looked to have lost her grip in the event.

Chinki, who had shot 588 on way to winning the Olympic quota in the Asian Championship in Doha, misfired and placed 24th with a total of 567. The 22-year-old had 285 in the precision stage and 282 in the rapid fire section. In fact, she missed the final by seven points, following a below par 88 on the last card.

In trouble?

Even as Chinki won the Olympic quota, there were projections as to how Rahi and Manu could shoot the event in the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, leaving the quota won by Chinki up for exchange, so as to give a chance for a shooter in another event. It may be too early to jump to conclusions, but Chinki has put herself in trouble with the below-par fare at her home range.

Pushpanjali Rana missed the final on the same score as Shreya Gawande, 574, by virtue of having lesser number of inner-10s, 10 to 14. Abhidnya Patil did well to win the bronze ahead of Olympian Annu Raj Singh and the former national champion Anisa Sayyed.

Gold for Rajput

In men’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event, Olympian Sanjeev Rajput was a class act, as he beat Olympian Chain Singh by 5.1 points for the gold, after having topped qualification with 1176.

Rahul Poonia won the bronze, ahead of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar who recovered his composure to clinch the junior gold.

• 50m rifle 3-position
• Men: 1. Sanjeev Rajput 459.6 (1176); 2. Chain Singh 454.5 (1163); 3. Rahul Poonia 442.3 (1164).
• Team: 1. Madhya Pradesh 3487 (157x); 2. Navy 3487 (151x); 3. Army Marksmanship Unit 3481.
• Juniors: 1. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 455.0 (1175); 2. Rishi Gireesh 454.9 (1166); 3. Sartaj Singh Tiwana 440.4 (1158).
• Team: 1. Madhya Pradesh 3480; 2. Punjab 3412; 3. Uttar Pradesh 3371.
• 25m sports pistol
• Women: 1. Rahi Sarnobat 41 (589); 2. Manu Bhaker 32 (582); 3. Abhidnya Patil 27 (575).
• Team: 1. Maharashtra 1738; 2. Haryana 1709; 3. Punjab 1704.
• Juniors: 1. Manu Bhaker 37 (582); 2. Neha 32 (577); 3. Tejaswani 27 (569).
• Team: 1. Haryana 1709; 2. Punjab 1699; 3. Uttar Pradesh 1673.