Esha Singh, Bhavnesh Shekhawat star on day 1 of Olympic Selection Trials in New Delhi
Indian shooters, Esha Singh and Bhavnesh Shekhawat, made headlines following Day 1 of the Olympic Selection Trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range on the outskirts of New Delhi. Esha pipped the likes of Simranpreet Kaur and Manu Bhakur to top the women’s 25-m pistol qualification.
Meanwhile, Bhavesh Shekhawat was the standout performer at the men’s 25-m rapid-fire pistol (RFP) charts. Esha Singh's brilliant performance fetched her 585 points, beating the likes of Simranpreet Kaur Brar (583) and Manu Bhaker (582), who finished second and third, respectively. Abhidnya Patil (577) and Rhythm Sangwan (574) rounded off the five in the fray.
Speaking of men’s rapid-fire pistol OST T2, Bhavesh topped the charts with 580 points. He received stiff competition from Vijayveer Sidhu (579) and Anish (578), both of whom also would be quite pleased with how things unfolded on day 1 of the Olympic Selection Trials.
All 10 shooters will come back on Sunday for the finals in a bid to pick up crucial podium points.
37 Indian Shooters participate at the first Rifle/Pistol Olympic Selection Trials
The first two of the four Olympic Selection Trials for rifle and pistol shooters have been scheduled to be held from April 19 to 27 in New Delhi. As many as 37 Indian shooters are competing to secure qualification for the Olympics.
The shooters will be taking part in eight Olympic Shooting events - four in rifle and four in pistol. Among the 37 shooters, five of them were selected for the trials based on national rankings as of 29th February.
The shooters will be earning points from the Olympic Selection Trials and the best three scores out of four trials will be considered. Also, one bonus point will be allotted to the ones who secured the Olympic quota.
Thus, the Final Average Score will be calculated based on the best three scores plus bonus points.
It is worth mentioning that India have secured all 16 quotas available in the rifle and pistol events. Shotgun shooters, on the other hand, have so far accumulated four quota places out of the maximum eight places.