New Delhi: After a six-month hiatus, Manu Bhaker, the double bronze medalist from the Paris Olympics, has made an impressive return to competitive shooting. She excelled in the qualification round of the 25m sports pistol event during the first selection trials, securing the top position, and continued her strong performance by leading the field in the second trials (T2) following the precision round at the Karni Singh Range on Tuesday.

Manu achieved an outstanding score of 297 out of 300 in the precision round. The rapid-fire round and the final competition are scheduled for Wednesday. In the initial selection trials, she recorded a total of 587 points, placing her at the forefront. During the final on Monday, despite a sluggish start, she managed to clinch the bronze medal, finishing behind Simranpreet Kaur, the winner, and Esha Singh, who secured second place in her first event since the Paris Olympics.

Additionally, Manu is set to participate in the trials for the 10m air pistol event, where she previously earned two bronze medals in Paris.

The teams for the upcoming ISSF World Cups in Argentina and Peru, taking place in April, will be determined based on the results from these two selection trials. A significant highlight of the year will be the ISSF World Championships scheduled for November.

Rudrankksh Patil, the 2022 World Champion in the 10m air rifle, along with Sift Kaur Samra, the Asian Games champion in women's rifle three positions, have demonstrated exceptional form throughout these trials, each winning consecutive selection trials. Rudrankksh, who narrowly missed qualifying for Paris, placed second in the qualification round of the second trials with a score of 633.0, only losing out to Hriday Hazarika of Assam on countback. In the final, Rudrankksh achieved a score of 253.3, securing the top position, while Hazarika took home the silver medal.

Rudrankksh achieved first place in the qualification round (T1) with a score of 633.3, surpassing Paris Olympian Arjun Babuta, whom he subsequently defeated in the final with an impressive score of 254.9 points.

Sift, following her gold medal victory at the National Games, has maintained her excellent performance. She topped the qualification round (T2) with a remarkable score of 595 and triumphed in the final with a commanding score of 469.8, surpassing her own world record set at the Asian Games by 0.2 points.

In the initial qualification round, Sift ranked seventh with a score of 589, while Odisha’s Shriyanka Sadangi secured first place with an outstanding score of 594. However, in the finals, Sift dominated the competition with a score of 465.6, finishing first. Haryana’s Himani Poonia followed in second place, 2.3 points behind, while the experienced Anjum Moudgil took third.

In the women’s 10m air rifle event, Sonam Uttam Maskar clinched the T1 final with a score of 253.3 after securing the top position in the qualification round with a score of 633.9. In the 25m rapid fire event, Army shooter Neeraj Kumar caused an upset by defeating the Paris Olympics duo of Anish Bhanwala and Vijayveer Sidhu to win the final with 34 hits. Anish, who had topped the qualification round with a score of 590 points, finished second in the final after winning the first trial (T1) on Sunday.

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