Shooting
Manu Bhaker and Vijayveer Sidhu confirm tickets to Paris, win final selection trials
Manu Bhaker and Vijayveer Sidhu won their final selection trials in their respective 25m events in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday.
Manu Bhaker ended Olympic selection trials for the 25m pistol event at the top of the ladder after winning the final trials. (Photo credits : SAI)
Shooters Manu Bhaker and Vijayveer Sidhu confirmed their tickets to the Paris Olympics, scheduled for July-August, in style.
They won the final trials in women's 25m pistol and men's 25m rapid-fire pistol events at Olympic Selection Trials T4 held in Bhopal on Tuesday.
Manu also ended her campaign at the top of the leaderboard after this four-leg shooting trial with an amazing average of 586.47 (This counts the best of three). She shot another world record-equalling performance of 42 shots in the final.
Simranpreet Singh and Abhidnya Patil took the silver and bronze medals respectively. However, they failed to secure their places in the Indian contingent for the Paris Olympics as they averaged a subpar performance of 581.87 and 578.20 respectively.
Esha Singh is the other shooter who will represent India in the women's 25m pistol event in Paris as she ended the trials with a good average rating of 584.07. Meanwhile, quota winner Rhythm Sangwan (582.20) had a nightmare of an outing as she failed to qualify for the Olympics despite leverage of two points because of her quota-winning performance.
Meanwhile, Vijayveer Sidhu continued his stellar performance, securing his first win in the men's 25m rapid-fire pistol event at these trials, finishing with an impressive 34 hits to secure the top spot.
Anish Bhanwala clinched the silver medal while Adarsh Singh ended with a bronze medal. Anish also topped the 25m RF Pistol event after trials with an average rating of 585.13 followed by Sidhu in second with average rating points of 581.40.
Both of them won the quota spots for India and now will also represent India at the coming Paris Olympics in July-August. Bhavesh Shekhawat (580.53), Ankur Goel (578.40) and Adarsh Singh (575.80) missed out on the qualification for the Olympics.
With the conclusion of the 25m events, all eyes are now set on the T3 trials for 50m events scheduled for Wednesday, where the top shooters will vie for their spots in the Indian contingent. As it stands, Ashi Chouksey leads the women's rifle 3 position category, while Swapnil Kusale maintains a commanding lead in the men's 50m rifle 3 position event.
The final squad for the Paris Olympics will be decided after a final meeting of selection committee.
