National Shooting Trials: Arshdeep Kaur wins 25m Pistol T3 final

New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) Arshdeep Kaur secured the top spot in a high-level field in the finals of the Women's 25m Pistol event at the National Selection Trials (Group A), being held at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range in New Delhi on Sunday. 

The Punjab shooter, who qualified eighth and last finalist, edged out the experienced Divya T.S 37-36 to finish on top in the eight-shooter final.

Former Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat secured third place with 33 hits, after Divya edged her in the shoot-off. Rhythm Sangwan finished fourth, followed by Niveditha V. Nair, National Champion Manu Bhaker, national bronze medallist Anjali Choudhary, and Chinki Yadav, who completed the top eight.

Manu qualified for finals in the top spot after two days of qualification in the precision and rapid stages with a combined score of 582-17x (Precision 287, Rapid 295). Rahi Sarnobat followed with a score of 580-20x (Precision 292, Rapid 288), and Divya T.S qualified in third place with a score of 580-13x (Precision 290, Rapid 290). 

Niveditha V. Nair (577-23x, Precision 288, Rapid 289), Rhythm Sangwan (577-16x, Precision 285, Rapid 292), Anjali Choudhary (576-12x, Precision 287, Rapid 289), Chinki Yadav (575-20x, Precision 280, Rapid 290), and Arshdeep Kaur (575-19x, Precision 285, Rapid 290) completed the top eight.

The qualification and finals of 50m Rifle 3 Positions for both men and women, along with the qualification and finals of 10m Air Pistol for men, will be held on Monday.

Ahead of a packed international and domestic calendar beginning next month, almost all of India’s top guns are competing in 10 events of the National Selection Trials 3 (Group A), which include all eight Olympic events plus the rifle prone competitions for men and women.

Athletes will be aiming to secure scores to make their case for selection in the national squad for international competitions in the second half of the year.

Rifle/Pistol Selection Trials 3 and 4 for Group B athletes also commenced on Friday and will be conducted at the M.P. State Shooting Academy in Bhopal till March 22, 2026. Following the completion of the selection trials, the national squad athletes will commence their coaching camp in New Delhi from March 10 to 21, 2026.

The National Squad camp for shotgun athletes commenced in New Delhi on Thursday, with the skeet shooters reporting first. The Trap shooters will report for the national camp on the 8th of March, 2026. The national squad camp will be followed by the pre-event camp before the ISSF World Cup Shotgun, the first World Cup of the calendar year, which will be held in Tangier, Morocco, from March 21-April 3, 2026.

--IANS

bsk/