Olympic Shooting Trials 2024: Bhavesh Shekhawat and Simranpreet Kaur secure wins in second set
Bhavesh Shekhawat secured victory in 25m rapid fire pistol (RFP) in the second set of the Olympic Shooting trials (OST T2) at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi on April 22, Monday. Meanwhile, Simranpreet Kaur Brar emerged victorious in the women’s 25m pistol.
Bhavesh secured a score of 34 in the RFP final, moving past the winner of the first set of trials, Anish Bhanwala, who shot 29. Vijayveer Sidhu clinched the third spot with 22 hits. On the other hand, Adarsh Singh (17) and Ankur Goel (13) racked up fourth and fifth positions respectively.
In the women’s 25m pistol event, Simranpreet Kaur Brar gave an exceptional performance, firing 37 hits in the 10 series of five shots each to secure the top spot in the five-women field.
Interestingly, Simran went past the first-set winner Manu Bhaker, who shot 35 hits in the OST T2. Esha Singh (30) took up the third spot while Rythm Sangwan (24) and Abhidnya Patil (16) clinched the fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Bhaker and Anish, both world championship medallists and quota winners in their respective categories, secured victories in the Olympic Shooting trials, first set.
How did Bhavesh and Simranpreet move up in the second set of the Olympic Shooting Trials?
Moving into the details of the second set, four of Bhavesh’s eight rounds saw scores of perfect 5s, allowing him to take a three-point lead by the midway point as Anish was put on the back foot from the first round itself.
On the other hand, Simranpreet, after finishing fourth in the first set, made an exceptional comeback, hitting five successive rounds of 4s. Though Manu Bhaker aimed to draw things back, Simranpreet stood consistent in the final rounds to take up the honors.
Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh, and Rhythm Sangwan are also part of the 10m air pistol category and will return this week to take part in the first two trials of the 10m air pistol category.
With the second set of four trials completed, the next two sets will take place in Bhopal between May 10 and May 19. By the end of the four sets of trials, NRAI will determine the Indian shooting contingent for Paris 2024.
Notably, the average of the three best scores from the Olympic Shooting trials will be taken into consideration, and the top two will represent the country at the Olympics.