Tejaswini Sawant tops MQS round in 50M rifle prone event at European Championships

Former world champion Tejaswini Sawant topped the Minimum Qualification Score (MQS) round of the 50M rifle prone event at the European Shooting Championship in Osijek, Croatia, on Thursday.

Tejaswini, in her first MQS outing at the championship, shot 622.7 to finish ahead of three other compatriots and six Iranians, lined up for the MQS section, where shooters compete for official scores only and not medals.

The rifle shooter from Maharashtra will be representing India in the women's 50m rifle 3 Positions event at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, which will also be her maiden outing at the quadrennial Games.

Among three other Indians in fray, youngster Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar was second best with a score of 620.3 after 60-shots. Sanjeev Rajput shot 619.7 while Anjum Moudgil shot 619.2.

Henrik Larsen of Norway shot the top score among regulars and MQS combined, with an effort of 628.8. The prone event is no longer an Olympic discipline and as such was also held as an open event.

The 13-member Indian Olympic pistol and rifle squad are on a training and competition trip to Croatia, from where they will directly reach Tokyo for the Olympics.