Shooting: Saurabh Chaudhary tops national trials

Saurabh Chaudhary came up with a sterling performance to top men’s air pistol in the sixth National selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Friday.

After his third place performance on Thursday, Saurabh topped qualification with 585 and followed that up with a thumping fare in the final when he beat Omprakash Mitharwal by 5.2 points.

Saurabh Chaudhary came up with a sterling performance to top men’s air pistol in the sixth National selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Friday. After his third place performance on Thursday, Saurabh topped qualification with 585 and followed that up with a thumping fare in the final when he beat Omprakash Mitharwal by 5.2 points.

Abhishek Arya settled for the third place ahead of former national champion Dharmendra Singh. Amanpreet Singh, Achal Pratap Grewal, Tinjit Dhanota and Arjun Cheema followed in that order. JItu Rai who had prevailed in the fifth trial with a 0.2 point margin over Abhishek Arya shot 576 and missed the final by two points.

In women’s rifle prone event, Anjum Moudgil topped 1.7 point ahead of Shreya Saksena, while Lajja Gauswami took the third place. Former world champion Tejaswini Sawant who had topped the earlier trial setttled for the fourth place ahead of Gaayathri NIthyanandam.

The results: Men: 10m air pistol: 1. Saurabh Chaudhary 244.3 (585); 2. Omprakash Mitharwal 239.1 (581); 3. Abhishek Arya 216.7 (579).

Women: 50m rifle prone: 1. Anjum Moudgil 620.9; 2. Shreya Saksena 619.2; 3. Lajja Gauswami 619.0.