SHOOTING | Rhythm Sangwan beats Manu Bhaker in shoot-off in sports pistol

Rhythm Sangwan beats Manu Bhaker in shoot-off at National shooting trials, while Swapnil Kusale wins men's 3-position event.

World record holder Rhythm Sangwan beat double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker 4-3 in the shoot-off after the two were tied on 37 in the 25-metre sports pistol in the National shooting trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range on Wednesday.

Except for the satisfaction of beating Manu, the effort did not fetch much benefit for Rhythm as she had shot a below par 578 in qualification, as compared to 591 by Manu.

With the second trials in the event having finished, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) was prompt in putting out the average moving scores that placed Manu, Simranrpeet Kaur Brar and Esha Singh as the top three, followed by multiple World Cup gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat, T.S. Divya and Rhythm.

The eventual rankings apart, the final line up had the cream, with Abhinya Patil, Esha (588), Rahi (588), Heena and Chinki placing fourth to eighth.

In the men’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event, Olympic medallist Swapnil Kusale beat World Cup gold medallist Akhil Sheoran by 2.6 points, for the top spot, while Olympian Chain Singh placed third ahead of qualification topper KIran Jadhav (596).

In women’s air rifle, Arya Borse topped with 253.5, half a point ahead of national champion Ananya Naidu. World Championship silver medallist Mehuli Ghosh placed third after having topped qualification with 635.4.

Such an effort could not help Mehuli’s cause immediately, as the moving averages project Arya, Narmada NIthin and Sonam Maskar as the top three, followed by Eleavenil Valarivan, Ananya and Meghana Sajjanar.