The Olympic selection trials started in right earnest with the former World and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra shooting increasingly well to record a score of 626.3 in men’s air rifle at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Wednesday.
Having been dropped from the Asian championship team, despite being the defending champion, to facilitate chances for the others to win an Olympic quota place, the 32-year-old Bindra needed to shoot one extra match, to reach seven scores that would be considered for selection. He had shot 619.8, 624.6, 627.5 and 625.5 in the four World Cups. He will be shooting the Asian Air Gun Championship at the same venue next month, apart from the National championship that is mandatory for all. Even though Bindra wound up with an impressive score of 106.2, after shooting 102.1, 104.0, 105.2, 103.9, 104.9 earlier, he was jolted to hear about the ill-health of his doting father, who was soon declared to be “out of danger.”
While Gagan Narang, preparing for the World Cup Final, opted to skip the trials, Chain Singh (623.2), Imran Hasan Khan (619.2), Satyendra Singh (619.1), Ashook Chavanke (618.0), Sanjeev Rajput (616.2), Akhil Sheoran (616.0) and Ravi Kumar (610.2) followed in that order.
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Among the women in air rifle, World Cup medallist Ayonika Paul topped the table with 418.1 ahead of Anjali Bhagwat (415.1), Shalini Chahar (413.8), Elizabeth Susan Koshy (413.6) and Kiran Kaur (411.5). Asian champion Pooja Ghatkar (410.7) was on par with Ayushi Gupta, and ahead of former world record holder Suma Shirur (407.0).
While Apurvi Chandela has won the Olympic quota and opted not to shoot the trials, Ayonika and Pooja would attempt to win the Olympic quota in Kuwait.
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Olympian Heena Sidhu who twice missed out on an Olympic quota place narrowly in air pistol, asserted her versatility by shooting 581 in the 25-metre sports pistol. Surabhi Pathak (577), Pushpanjali Rana (570), Shreya Gawande (568), Shweta Singh (567) and Anisa Sayyed (566) followed her, while Olympians Annu Raj Singh and Rahi Sarnobat skipped the event, along with Gauri Sheoran.
With six trials scheduled over the next few months, in spells of two each, the shooters can opt for the right time to shoot the trials, that too, if required. From being mandatory and the sole criterion, the trials have been reduced to fill the gap, and give a chance for shooters who do not compete internationally.
In free pistol, in which the quota place winners Jitu Rai and Prakash Nanjappa are far superior in the averages, and opted to skip the event, Gurpal Singh of the army shot 557, and was followed by Om Prakash (554), Jai Singh (551), Dharmender Singh (548), Samaresh Jung (545) and Ravinder Singh.