Olympic Selection Trials: Ramita Jindal tops in women’s air rifle; Manu Bhaker leads in air pistol

Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal was close to perfection as she shot 636.4 in 10m air rifle to brighten her chances for a ticket to Paris Olympics in the fourth Olympic shooting trials at the Madhya Pradesh Academy on Saturday.

Yet, Ramita may not be able to celebrate, as former World No.1 Elavenil Valarivan with a deemed Olympic quota bonus of one point and Olympic quota winner Tilottama Sen, may just nose ahead of her when the averages are worked out after the finals on Sunday.

What was clear was that the World Championship silver medallist Mehuli Ghosh did not have the scores to back her claim for a Paris ticket, even though she shot an impressive 633.1 this day.

Equally intriguing was the scenario in men’s 10m air rifle in which rookie Sandeep Singh was the leader with an unbeatable average, while Olympic quota winners Arjun Babuta and World Champion Rudrankksh Patil looked to be locked in a close fight for the second berth, with the averages working in favour of Arjun.

Can we afford to drop the World Champion on a decimal difference, or deny a rookie from gunning for an Olympic medal on his rightful spot, are questions that the selection committee of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) would face before it finalises the Olympic squad.

There was no such doubt in women’s 10m air pistol, as Olympian Manu Bhaker, who had already ensured her spot in sports pistol, climbed to the top following 581 this day. Rhythm Sangwan shot 572, her lowest in four trials, but had done enough earlier to be the second best ahead of Surbhi Rao, Esha Singh and Asian Games gold medallist Palak Gulia.

In men’s 10m air pistol, Olympic quota winner Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema finished strong to be clearly ahead of Olympic quota winner Varun Tomar, Ravinder Singh and Naveen.