Manu, Vijayveer Win Final 25m Pistol Olympic Selection Trial

Tokyo Olympian Manu Bhaker: Tokyo Olympian Manu Bhaker and Paris quota holder Vijayveer Sidhu have won the fourth and final Olympic Selection Trial (OST) in 25m pistol events, here at the MP State Shooting Academy (MPSSA) ranges on Tuesday.

Manu shot a world-record equalling 42 in the women's 25M Pistol OST T4 final, while Vijayveer shot 34 in the decider of the men's 25M Rapid-Fire Pistol (RFP) OST T4, to emerge triumphant.

Manu completed a dominance of the women’s 25M Pistol trials as she won two and came second in the other two. She was also the only shooter among the selected five to have not gone below 580 in the qualification round even once.

Abhidnya Patil (35) was second while Simranpreet Kaur Brar (30) took home the final available podium point. Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan were fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the men's RFP final, Vijayveer took the lead after the second five-shot series and held on till the eighth and final series to register his first outright victory in the trials. Anish was second with 30 while Adarsh Singh was third with 25. Ankur Goel (20) and Bhavesh Shekhwat (18) took the minor places.

Anish, however, was the most successful of the five in the event, having won a couple of trials and coming second in the other two. Bhavesh Shekhawat had won the second trial. Vijayveer, on the other hand, had come second twice in the three earlier trials.

Wednesday will see the qualification rounds of the men's and women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event play out with local hopes Aishwary Tomar and Ashi Chouksey set to participate.