Shooting
Suruchi, Saurabh finish on top at National shooting trials
Olympians Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh finish outside top 3.
Saurabh Chaudhary. (Phot credit: TOI)
Olympian Saurabh Chaudhary and Suruchi Singh continued their remarkable form this season, finishing on top of T3 in their respective 10m pistol event on the final day of the National Selection Trials 3 & 4 (Rifle & Pistol) for Group ‘A’ athletes at the Trishul Shooting Range on Monday.
Suruchi dominated the finals to finish with a score of 244.3, which was 3.1 more than Anjali Shekhawat who finished in second. The experienced Rahi Sarnobat secured another podium finish with a score of 221.6.
Olympians Manu Bhaker (202.5) and Esha Singh (179.6) came in fourth and fifth places respectively. Sainyam, KM Priyanka Patel and D Padma completed were other finalists in women’s 10m pistol.
Suruchi shot a brilliant 588-20x in qualification to finish on top ahead of Anjali and Rahi who shot 584-25x and 579-23x to finish in the top three. Priyanka Patel (579-18x), Sainyam (579-16x), Manu (577-21x), D. Padma (577-21x) and Esha (577-18x) completed the top eight.
“There’s really no big secret to how I shoot. I don’t look at the clock or think about how fast I’m going, I just keep shooting until it’s done. The rhythm takes over, and everything flows naturally, and that’s probably what helps me stay focused. For now, I’m looking forward to the Haryana State Championships and then we head into the national camp. Step by step, I just want to keep doing my best,” Suruchi said after her double wins in the trials.
In the men’s final, Saurabh secured the top spot with a score of 245.7, 0.4 ahead of Subhash Sihag who finished with a score of 245.3. Aditya Malra finished third with a score of 223.5.
T3 winner Samrat Rana finished in fourth while Ujjawal Malik, Ajay Kumar Ambawat, Amit Sharma and Rajan Tomar were the other finalists.
Earlier in qualification, Saurabh finished ahead of the field with a score of 587. The competition for the top eight places were fiercely contested with Ujjawal (583-22x), Rajan Tomar (583-21x), Amit Sharma (582-24x), Subhash Sihag (582-22x), Ajay Kumar (582-19x), Aditya (582-18x) and Samrat (582-17x) completing the lineup.
In 50m 3P rifle prone men, Goldi Gurjar (625.0), Parikshit Singh Brar (624.2) and Akhil Sheoran (623.7) had top three finishes.
