New Delhi, Jan 23 (NationPress) Maharashtra’s Sakshi Sunil Padekar and Railways’ Shahu Tushar Mane outperformed national record scores during the finals and qualification rounds of the 10m Air Rifle events for women and men at the National Selection Trials 1&2 (Group A) taking place at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in the National Capital Region.

Sakshi achieved a score of 254.3 in the T2 final, while Shahu Tushar Mane recorded a remarkable 637.1 in the men’s T2 qualification. Although both scores surpassed the national record, scores from trials cannot be used for record purposes. Olympian Arjun Babuta triumphed in the T2 men’s final, with Sakshi securing the women’s title. Olympian Rahi Sarnobat claimed victory in the women’s 25m Pistol T2 final.

Sakshi Padekar Shines in 10m Air Rifle Women (Trial 2)

Sakshi Sunil Padekar delivered an outstanding performance in the 10m Air Rifle Women Trial 2, maintaining her lead from qualification to the final. She topped the qualification round with an impressive 634.4 before achieving a remarkable 254.3 in the final, exceeding the previous national record held by Elavenil Valarivan from the Asian Shooting Championship last year, securing her first-place position decisively.

Kerala’s Vidarsa K. Vinod finished second with a score of 252.0 in the final, while World Championship bronze medallist Valarivan, who qualified second with 633.4, took third place with a final score of 231.4. Khyati Chaudhary from Uttar Pradesh narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth with 209.7, and Rajshree Anilkumar Sancheti from Delhi ended the final in fifth place with 188.6.

Arya Rajesh Borse from Maharashtra finished sixth with 167.5, while Trial 1 winner Tilottama Sen placed seventh with 145.3. Ismita Bhowal from West Bengal did not compete in the final despite qualifying sixth with a score of 631.6.

Arjun Babuta Claims Victory in 10m Air Rifle Men (Trial 2)

Olympian Arjun Babuta emerged victorious in a tightly contested 10m Air Rifle Men Trial 2 final, finishing with 253.4. Babuta, who qualified second with 632.4, improved his performance in the final to narrowly surpass Maharashtra’s Parth Rakesh Mane, who finished just 0.1 points behind at 253.3, with both athletes scoring 10.8 on their final shots. Navy’s Kiran Ankush Jadhav secured third place with 231.2.

Delhi’s Paarth Makhiya finished fourth with 210.1, followed by Telangana’s Dhanush Srikanth in fifth with 187.9. Despite bettering the national record in qualification with an impressive 637.1, top qualifier Shahu Tushar Mane finished sixth with 166.5 after a shoot-off against Haryana’s Samarvir Singh (b. 145.2). Gajanan Shahadev Khandagale from Maharashtra completed the final line-up with 121.9.

Rahi Sarnobat Dominates

Former Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat clinched gold in the 25m Pistol Women Trial 2 final, scoring 43 hits in a commanding performance. Haryana’s Vibhuti Bhatia demonstrated her skill to secure second place with 35 hits.

Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, who led the qualification round with 589-24x, earned third place with 31 hits. Punjab’s Arshdeep Kaur, who was second in qualification with 583-21x, finished fourth with 23 hits, while Simranpreet Kaur Brar (17) and Riya Singh (7) claimed fifth and sixth place respectively. Anjali Choudhary and Esha Singh did not participate in the Trial 2 final.

The action continues on Saturday with the 10m Air Pistol Trial 1 events for both men’s and women’s categories.