38th National Games: Ramita Jindal Excels in Women’s 10m Air Rifle Qualifiers
Click to start listening
Synopsis
In the women’s 10m Air Rifle qualification at the 38th National Games, Ramita Jindal from Haryana delivered an outstanding score of 634.9, leading the qualifiers at the Trishul Shooting Range in Dehradun. The competition featured several top shooters vying for a spot in the finals, promising an exciting showdown ahead.
Key Takeaways
- Ramita Jindal achieved the top score of 634.9 in the women's 10m Air Rifle event.
- She surpassed previous scores set by notable competitors.
- A total of eight shooters qualified for the finals.
- Vijayveer Singh Sidhu showcased potential in the Rapid Fire Pistol event.
- 10,000 athletes are participating in the National Games.
Dehradun, Jan 29 (NationPress) Ramita Jindal from Haryana showcased an exceptional performance, capturing attention in the women’s 10m Air Rifle qualification event during the inaugural day of shooting competitions at the 38th National Games held at the state-of-the-art Trishul Shooting Range on Wednesday.
The Asian Games medallist Ramita clinched the top position in the Air Rifle event with an impressive score of 634.9, surpassing the 634.5 recorded by Korea’s Ban Hyo-jin during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Mehuli Ghosh had previously scored 634.5, leading the qualification at the 2023 World Championships in Baku.
Ramita's score granted her the top seed among the eight shooters who qualified for the women's Air Rifle final. She finished with a 0.4-point lead over Arya Borse from Maharashtra.
In third place was Narmada Raju from Tamil Nadu, trailing by just 0.1 points. Vidarsa K. Vinod from Kerala, who was once leading, ended up fourth with a score of 633.0 points. The final Olympic qualification spot was filled at 631.3 points.
The remaining finalists included Shreya Agarwal (Madhya Pradesh) with 632.0 points, Elavenil Valarivan (Gujarat) at 631.9, Meghana Sajjanar (Karnataka) with 631.2, and Manyata Singh (Odisha) at 630.1. They will compete in what promises to be an exhilarating contest on Thursday, testing the composure of all shooters.
In the Rapid Fire Pistol event, Vijayveer Singh Sidhu from Punjab shot 587, which would have secured him a spot in the Olympic final had he achieved this score in Paris, where he recorded 583. Anish Bhanwala (Haryana) scored 582, Neeraj Kumar (Services) 579, Bhavesh Shekhawat (Rajasthan) 577, Omkar Singh (Services), and Gurpreet Singh (Services) 574, all advancing to the final.
The silver medallist from the London 2012 Olympic Games, Vijay Kumar (Himachal Pradesh), was also in contention for a spot in the final, but an underwhelming last series dashed his hopes. Had he scored 94 instead of 90 in the four-second series during the second qualification stage, he might have forced a shoot-off for sixth place.
Approximately 10,000 athletes are set to compete across more than 30 disciplines at the 38th National Games in Uttarakhand, which were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
