Shooting trials for Olympic selection set to resume in Bhopal

BHOPAL: A total of 37 pistol and rifle shooters will resume their quest for a spot in the Indian squad for the Paris Olympic Games when Olympic Selection Trials (OST) 3&4 commence here on Saturday.

The Indian shooters have secured 16 Paris quota places (the maximum possible) in pistol and rifle and the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) is conducting trials among the top-five in the country in each event to select the squad for the Olympics.

In shooting sport, Olympic quotas are earned for the the country and individuals securing the slots are not assured of Paris berths unless they top the selection trials.

The top two shooters in each event, based on the average of the best three trial scores out of four, will board the flight to Paris.

The first set of two trials was held at the Karni Singh Ranges in New Delhi last month and the MP State Shooting Academy here will decide the Olympic fate of top contenders over the next few days.

The first day of the trials will see the men's 25m rapid-fire pistol and women's 25m pistol T3 qualification rounds. The finals of both those competitions are slotted for Sunday.

A total of 16 matches across the eight Olympic rifle and pistol individual events will be held over nine days, concluding with the men's and women's 10m air rifle T4 finals on May 19.

Three women shooters, Olympian Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan are in contention in multiple events, namely 25m sport pistol and the 10m air pistol.

Among the favourites in the men's rapid-fire pistol event are Anish Bhanwala and Vijayveer Sidhu, who have the advantage of being quota winners and have also fared well in the first two trials.

In the 25m sport pistol, Manu and Esha seem to be having the edge after the first two trials.

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Ashi Chouksey in the men's and women's 50m rifle 3 positions respectively, renew their fight for Olympic spots.