Olympic Shooting Trials 2024: Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala set for second consecutive win
Indian pistol shooters Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala continued their good performance on the third day of the ongoing Olympic Shooting Trials (T1, T2), aiming for their second consecutive win at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi.
Ace pistol shooter Manu Bhaker secured an aggregate of 585 in the women’s 25m pistol category in T2 qualification to lead the five-women field into the final on top spot in the latest tally. Interestingly, she finished at the pole position in the Olympic Shooting T1 trials on April 20, Saturday.
Her compatriot Esha Singh closely followed her with 581, while Simranpreet Kaur Brar clinched the third position with 577. Abhidnya Ashok Patil with 572 and Rhythm Sangwan with 566 took up the fourth and fifth slots.
Notably, Rhythm is the second Paris Olympic quota holder in the field along with Manu Bhaker.
Moving forward to the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol, Anish Bhanwala continued his impressive performance, dominating other shooters with his sheer accuracy. He topped the qualification round with a score of 582.
The Paris quota holder Vijayveer Sidhu is currently in the second position with 580, while Bhavesh Shekhawat is at the third spot with 580 points, but with fewer inner 10s.
As of now, Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh in the women’s pistol and Anish Bhanwala and Vijayveer Sidhu in the men’s rapid-fire pistol are frontrunners to make it to the quadrennial event in Paris.
It’s important to note that the trio of Manu, Rhythm, and Esha are contending for Paris Olympics 2024 berths in sports and air pistols.
After the conclusion of the ongoing Olympic Shooting Trials T1 and T2 in Delhi, the third and fourth trials are scheduled to take place in Bhopal in May 2024.
What happened on Day 2 of the Olympic Shooting Trials?
Manu Bhaker bettered her world record in the women’s 25m pistol category with a score of 47/50 to secure the top spot in the ongoing Olympic Selection Trials (OST T1 trials) on April 20, Saturday.
Manu looked dominant in the final of the first set, shooting perfect rounds of five on seven instances while securing three fours.
In men’s Rapid Fire Pistol, Anish Bhanwala secured the third spot after the qualification round and emerged victorious in T1 trials with 33 points.