Sarabjot Singh, Lakshita emerge victorious at T4 shooting trials

Paris Olympic medallist Sarabjot Singh (men's 10m air pistol), Lakshita (women's 10m air pistol), Akhil Sheoran (men's 50m rifle 3P) and Sakshi Sunil Padekar (women's 50m rifle 3P) won at the T4 national shooting trials in Dehradun.

Paris Olympic bronze medallist Sarabjot Singh, Army shooter Lakshita, former world championship medallist Akhil Sheoran and Maharashtra's Sakshi Sunil Padekar emerged victorious in their respective events as four finals were decided on the penultimate day of the T4 national selection trials for Rifle and Pistol shooters at the Trishul Shooting Range of the Maharana Pratap Sports College in Dehradun on Tuesday.

Men's 10m Air Pistol Final

In the men's 10m air pistol final, Sarabjot finished with 245.9 to claim top honours, while Army marksman Ajendra Singh Chauhan pushed him all the way before settling for second place on 245.1, while World champion Samrat Rana completed the top three with 221.5. Haryana's Kamaljeet Choudhary finished fourth with 201.8, while qualification topper Saurabh Chaudhary ended fifth on 179.7. Punjab's Udhayveer Sidhu was sixth with 157.4, Rajasthan's Omprakash Mitharval seventh with 136.0 and Army shooter Parmod eighth with 116.3. Earlier, Saurabh had topped the qualification with 583-21x, followed by Kamaljeet on 583-20x, while Samrat Rana and Sarabjot Singh qualified third and fourth with scores of 582-27x and 582-21x, respectively.

Women's 10m Air Pistol Final

The women's 10m air pistol final produced the closest finish of the day. Army shooter Lakshita, who had scraped into the final in eighth place after qualifying with 573-19x, held her nerve to edge Haryana's Surbhi Rao by just 0.2 points. Lakshita finished with 240.0, while Surbhi finished with 239.8. Uttar Pradesh's Mansi Anand claimed third spot with 220.2. ISSF World Cup Final 2025 silver medallist Sainyam finished fourth with 197.6, followed by Haryana shooters Muskan Bhanwala and Manu Bhaker in fifth and sixth positions with scores of 177.0 and 157.1, respectively. ISSF Munich World Cup gold medallists Suruchi and Palak did not start the final despite qualifying. Earlier, Manu Bhaker had led qualification with 579-20x, ahead of Muskan (577-14x) and Sainyam (576-18x), while Surbhi Rao and Mansi Anand qualified fifth and sixth with scores of 575-23x and 575-18x, respectively.

Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions Final

The men's 50m rifle 3 positions final witnessed another thrilling finish as Akhil Sheoran of Uttar Pradesh edged Navy's Niraj Kumar by just 0.2 points to take the top spot. Akhil finished with 358.3 while Niraj settled on 358.1. World Championship medallist Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar finished third with 345.4. Olympian Chain Singh finished fourth with 333.7, followed by Nikhil Tanwar (319.0), Goldi Gurjar (309.1), Sidharth Gaur (299.1) and Adriyan Karmakar (292.5). Aishwary had earlier topped qualification with 591-35x, ahead of Adriyan Karmakar (590-28x) and Niraj Kumar (589-41x), while Akhil Sheoran had qualified fifth with 587-30x.

Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions Final

In the women's 50m rifle 3 positions final, Maharashtra's Sakshi Sunil Padekar overcame Karnataka's Tilottama Sen in a high-quality battle for top spot. Sakshi finished with 358.2, ahead of Tilottama's 357.8, while Madhya Pradesh's Ashi Chouksey secured third with 345.5. Kerala's Vidarsa K. Vinod placed fourth with 334.4, while Olympians Anjum Moudgil and Sift Kaur Samra finished fifth and sixth with scores of 322.9 and 312.3, respectively. Army shooter Priya took seventh place with 302.7 after a shoot-off with Sift, while Haryana's Nischal Singh ended eighth with 300.7. Vidarsa had topped qualification with 590-33x, just ahead of Sift Kaur Samra on 590-31x, while Sakshi qualified third with 589-36x before going on to finish T4 finals on top.

Rankings Update and Trial Conclusion

In the updated national rankings, Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve leads the men's 10m air pistol standings ahead of Gaurav Kumar and Kamaljeet Choudhary, while Suruchi continues to hold the No. 1 spot in the women's event ahead of Sainyam and Esha Singh. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar remains at the top of the men's 50m rifle 3 positions rankings, followed by Niraj Kumar and Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil, while Ashi Chouksey leads the women's standings ahead of Vidarsa K. Vinod and Tilottama Sen.

The T4 Rifle and Pistol trials conclude on Wednesday with the 50m Rifle Prone events for men and women, after which the Indian rifle and pistol squads for upcoming international assignments, including the Asian Games and ISSF World Cup Hangzhou, are expected to be finalised. (ANI)

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