Shooting
Shooting Olympic Trials: Arjun breaches world record in 10m air rifle
Arjun Babuta shot a brilliant 254.0 to win the first Olympic selection trials of the 10m air rifle while Nancy won the women's event.
Delhi: The ongoing Olympic Selection Trials (OST) witnessed Arjun Babuta breaching the existing finals world record in men’s 10M Air Rifle, to post a commanding win on Thursday at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
His sensational tally of 254.0 in the OST T1 final, was 0.3 above the mark set by fellow finalist and India teammate Divyansh Singh Panwar, at the Cairo World Cup earlier this year.
Arjun’s scoresheet was studded with two perfect 10.9 gems, besides 13 other shots which were 10.6 or above. His lowest score of 10.0 came only on the 21st shot, by which time he had already established a huge gap over the field, winning it by 2.8 in the end over 2022 world champ Rudrankksh Patil. Sri Karthik Sabari Raj was third.
In the women's 10m air rifle event, Nancy got better than quota holder Mehuli Ghosh and won the final with a score of 253.4. She missed the world record mark by 0.6.
Mehuli came second with a score of 252.7 while Elavenil Valarivan came third with a score of 230.5.
Varun and Rhythm dominates Air Pistol Trials
Olympic quota winner Varun Tomar shot consistently in the 10m air pistol final to register a commanding win over Ravinder Singh and fellow Paris quota holder Sarabjot Singh.
Ravinder Singh was a whole 4.1 points behind in the second, while Sarabjot Singh (217.4) picked up the final podium points with a third-place finish.
Ravinder was leading the field in the starting rounds but Varun's consistency came in handy when Ravinder shot a couple of 8-pointers in the fourth round.
In the women's 10m air pistol, Olympian Manu Bhaker had to settle for second place as Rhythm Sangwan dominated the field and made up somewhat for her disappointments in the Sport Pistol trials earlier,
After topping qualifications on Wednesday with a score of 578, she led from start to finish in the final to also collect the highest podium points available. Her score of 243.5 was a huge 5.7 better than second finishing Manu Bhaker. Reigning Asian Games champ Palak finished third.
