National Shooting Selection Trials: Manu Bhaker wins gold medal

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 14 : India's rising star Manu Bhaker won the women's 25m pistol title on the opening day of the National Shooting Selection Trials for rifle and pistol shooters on Thursday. The event is currently underway at the Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy Range in Bhopal.

Last month Manu Bhaker had clinched a bronze medal in the women's 25m pistol event of the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup 2023 at the same venue.

At the trials, Manu Bhaker (21), who is the youngest Indian to win a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup, beat local favourite Chinki Yadav 31-29 in the medal match to clinch the crown.

Rhythm Sangwan bagged the bronze after a shoot-off win over Neha. Rhythm Sangwan had topped the qualifying stage with 583 ahead of Manu Bhaker (580), with Chinki Yadav qualifying sixth with 577.

Other winners on the day included Arjun Babuta in the men's 10m air rifle and Ashi Chouksey in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions.

In the men's air rifle final, Arjun Babuta had topped qualification with 634.5 points and outgunned Akhil Sheoran 16-6 in the medal round. Meanwhile, in the women's rifle 3 position event, Ashi Chouksey beat Shriyanka Sadangi 16-10 for first place after topping qualification with 589 points.

In the junior section, Dhanush Srikanth (men's 10m air rifle men) and Nikita Kundu (women's 50m rifle 3 positions) emerged as winners.

The ongoing shooting trials are meant to help the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) select the Indian team for important events like the ISSF World Shooting Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, from May 27 to June 7 and the Asian Games 2023, scheduled from September 23 to October 8 in Hangzhou, China.

The junior shooters are competing for places in the Junior World Cup and Junior World Championships squads.