Anisa Sayyed retained her mighty hold on the 25m Sports Pistol for women, winning her third National title in a row at the 55th national championships on Monday.
The burly Pune shooter, representing Haryana, entered the final with a 10-point lead over her closest rival and drove home the psychological advantage. The champion was far out in front with 781.1 points (581 qualifying, 201.1 final) and is eyeing one quota place remaining at the 2012 Asian shooting championships in Qatar, the last chance for Indian Olympic hopefuls.
India's quota place winner in the event for London 2012, Maharashtra's Rahi Sarnobat, fired her way to a superb 203.7 final round, but the deficit in qualifying forced her to be satisfied with second place in 774.7 points total (571, 203.7).
Annuraj Singh came into her own in the 20-shot final, spread over four rounds of five shots each, firing a high of 52.5 in the third, but the gap between her and the leader was beyond reach and secured third spot in 768.4 (561, 201.4).
Two shooters were disqualified for weapon-handling in the qualifying stage.
Technique and precision
Anisa talked about working on technique and precision in the days ahead.
“I have been working on technical changes in consultation with coach Jaspal Rana (noted India shooter) and trying out those in the pressure of a final was one of our targets. This performance shows more work needs to be done,” said the Pune woman, the CWG 2010 gold winner in sports pistol.
Coach Rana was at hand for a quick word with his ward after the final results were announced. Anisa said: “Rahi has gained one quota place, one more is at stake and my focus is geared towards getting there.”
The Commonwealth Games 2010 champion is aware of the steep mountain to climb, since Rahi's World Cup high this year at Fort Benning, USA, came following a hard-earned 789.7 for the bronze (582, 207.7). She moved to World No.11 and remains the nation's best, despite the silver behind Anisa.
Final score:
25m Sports Pistol Women : 1. Anisa Sayyed (Har) 781.1 (581, 201.1); 2. Rahi Sarnobat (Mah) 774.7 (571, 203.7); 3. Annuraj Singh (Air India) 768.4 (567, 201.4); 4. Divya Singh (Army) 658 (561, 197); 5. Shraddha N. (Mah) 755.6 (557, 198.6); 6. Rajini (Har) 751.7 (559, 192.7); 7. Saroja Kumari (Army) 745.9 (556, 189.9); 8. Pushapanjali Rana (CRPF) 741.5 (556, 185.5).
