Adarsh, Manu top qualifications in fourth 25m Olympic selection trial

BHOPAL: Manu Bhaker and Adarsh Singh emerged winners in the qualification rounds of the women's 25m pistol and men's 25m rapid-fire pistol respectively in the Olympic Selection Trial here Monday.

All five shooters in both men's and women's categories will now clash in the final at the M.P. State Shooting Academy ranges on Tuesday.

Anish Bhanwala took a healthy four-point lead from the first precision stage into the second rapid-fire stage, only to be pipped by Adarsh on countback, after both posted scores of 583 with the same number of 24-hits in the inner 10-ring.

Ankur Goel too shot the same score but had 10 fewer hits in the inner ring, while Vijayveer Sidhu clinched fourth with 581, scoring just one inner-10 more than Bhavesh Shekhawat.

Olympian Manu defeated Esha Singh on inner-10s after both shot an identical 586. Rhythm Sangwan came in third while Abhidnya Patil (582) and Simranpreet Kaur Brar (564) were fourth and fifth respectively.

On pure calculations and taking best of three scores, Manu and Esha take the top two spots in the women's event, while Anish and Vijayveer are 1-2 in the men's RFP, irrespective of what happens in the finals.

The final team for the Paris Olympics will be declared after a meeting of the selection committee post the trials.