Rakshna, Panwar win air rifle events at National Shooting trials

C. Kavi Rakshna and Divyansh Singh Panwar won the 10m Air Rifle events at the National Shooting T2 trials on Sunday.

File Photo: Divyansh Singh Panwar had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a silver medal in Beijing World Cup in 2019.

World No.1 in men’s air rifle, Divyansh Singh Panwar asserted his class by rising to the top position in the second competition of the National shooting selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.

Qualifiying in the eighth place with 628.7 points, a mere 0.1 point ahead of Srinjoy Datta, Divyansh shot  250.9 in the final, to beat Rudrankksh Patil by 0.8 point for the top spot.

World junior champion Hriday Hazarika, who had won the first trial, was pushed to the third spot. Youth Olympics silver medallist Shahu Tushar Mane placed fourth while  qualification topper Arjun Babuta (632.1) finished seventh.

In the women’s section, Kavi Rakshna of Tamil Nadu emerged on top with 251.4, as she beat qualification topper Nisha Kanwar (630.7) by 0.7 point. Remarkably, Kavi had risen to the top spot after having placed seventh in qualification.

World No.1 and winner of first trial, Elavenil Valarivan placed third. Olympian Ayonika Paul was fourth ahead of Nupur Patil, Shriyanka Sadangi, Ayushi Podder and Khushi Saini.

Olympic quota winners in the event, Apurvi Chandela (624.5) and Anjum Moudgil (624.2) were not at their best, and placed 15th and 16th respectively.

In the second skeet trials, Amrinder Singh Cheema pipped Fatehbir Singh Shergill in the shoot-off after the two tied with 54 in the final. Qualification topper Anantjeet Singh Naruka (121) was overtaken to the third spot by Gurjoat Singh. Raiza Dhillon won the women’s event but finished behind Darshna Rathore and Areeba Khan in the junior final.

The results:

Air rifle: Men: 1. Divyansh Singh Panwar 250.9 (628.7); 2. Rudrankksh Patil 249.7 (629.7); 3. Hriday Hazarika 229.5 (630.8).

Women: 1. C. Kavi Rakshna 251.4 (627.7); 2. Nisha Kanwar 250.7 (630.7); 3. Elavenil Valarivan 229.1 (629.0).

Skeet:

Men: 1. Amrinder Singh Cheema 54(2) 119; 2. Fatehbir Singh Shergill 54(1) 119; 3. Gurjoat Singh 43 (116).

Women: 1. Raiza Dhillon 50 (114); 2. Darshna Rathore 47 (115); 3. Areeba Khan 39 (110).

Junior men: 1. Abhay Singh Sekhon 54 (111); 2. Rajveer Singh Gill 52 (116); 3. Ayush  Rudraraju 41 (118).

Junior women: 1. Darshna Rathore 53 (115); 2. Areeba Khan 50 (110); 3. Raiza Dhillon 39 (114).