New Delhi, Feb 11: Railways’ Sonam Uttam Maskar and Army’s Neeraj Kumar won the women’s 10m air rifle T1 final and men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol T2 final respectively to showcase their class in the National Selection Trials (Group A), currently underway here on Tuesday.
Sonam, who bagged three ISSF medals last year, shot 253.2 in the final to beat national champion Ananya Naidu of Maharashtra, who finished 1.3 behind in second place.
Neeraj Kumar caused an upset, getting the better of the Paris Olympics duo of Anish Bhanwala and Vijayveer Sidhu, relegating them to silver and bronze positions respectively in T2 final.
Earlier in the day, Sonam showcased good form in the 60-shot qualification round, topping it with a score of 633.9. Two Olympians, Elavenil Valarivan (2nd with 632.6) and Ayonika Paul (7th with 630.4), joined her in the final eight, along with national champ Ananya (5th with 632.1).
The strong field did not deter Sonam who began the decider with a near-perfect 10.7 and never looked back. Ananya was the only shooter to threaten her dominance and was just 0.4 behind at the 16-shot stage before Sonam pulled away for good.
Maharashtra had a double podium as another in-form shooter Arya Rajesh Borse finished third.
In men’s rapid-fire pistol T2, the undisputed India number one Bhanwala topped the qualification with a score of 590. He looked on course for back-to-back trial wins. Raajwardan Patil of Maharashtra was way behind in second with 584, while Vijayveer qualified third with a 580. Neeraj was fourth with an unimpressive 579.
In the final though, Neeraj performed like a man possessed, shooting a perfect 5 in each of the first three series of five rapid-fire shots. Another perfect 5 in the sixth meant he would not drop a point in half the final.
He backed up a stellar showing with three scores of 4 to stun Anish, who ended three behind at 31. Vijayveer held on for bronze.
Manu extends stellar run of form
Double Olympic bronze medallist Manu Bhaker extended a stellar run of form on return to competitive shooting, staying in pole position after round one of qualification in the women’s 25m pistol T2 event, with a brilliant 297 out of 300 in the first precision round.
The second rapid-fire round and finals will be held on Wednesday. (PTI)