Divya tops women’s air pistol

New Delhi

Divya T.S. defeated Rhythm Sangwan 16-12 to emerge on top in women’s air pistol as the sixth National shooting trials concluded at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Tuesday.

After trailing 8-10 in the climax, Divya pulled through, winning four of the next five shots and winding up with a 10.3 in the new format which features single-shot duel between the two best shooters to decide the gold medal.

Anurdaha Devi climbed to the third spot, comfortably ahead of Asian Games medallist Shweta Singh. Qualification topper Neha Tomar (582) was placed fifth as she pipped Harnavdeep Kaur by 0.4 point.

Rhythm kept getting better with every final, and finished on top in both the junior and youth events, to wind up a consistently strong performance in multiple events in the trials spanning a fortnight.

‘’I like competing in all the events’’, said Rhythm, quite pleased with her overall performance in the 10m and 25m events.

The 18-year-old Rhythm, who has already established herself in the international junior circuit, beat Devanshi Dhama 16-8 to emerge on top in the junior event. She outclassed a nervous Mansi Anand 16-2 in the youth event.

Esha Singh (574) who made all the three finals, opted to skip the second stage of competition.

Olympian Manu Bhaker competed hard in the junior final and ended up third, missing the chance to fight for the title by 1.1 point to Devanshi. Not being at her competitive best, Manu may focus on the junior events in the World Championship.

In the youth event, Rhythm raced to a 14-0 lead before Mansi won her first two points, as a face-saving exercise against an opponent who was firing 10.9 and 10.8 towards the finish.

In the 25m centre fire pistol, Pradhyumn Singh topped with an impressive score of 587, four points ahead of Ankur Goel who had a memorable performance earlier in topping the rapid fire pistol events.

The results:

10m air pistol: Women: 1. Divya T.S. 16 (249.4) 578; 2. Rhythm Sangwan 12 (246.7) 576; 3. Anuradha Devi 246.6 (574); 4. Shweta Singh 243.8 (575).

Juniors: 1. Rhythm Sangwan 16 (249.4) 576; 2. Devanshi Dhama 8 (247.7) 571; 3. Manu Bhaker 246.6 (572); 4. Anjali Chaudhary 243.8 (574).

Youth: 1. Rhythm Sangwan 16 (245.5) 576; 2. Mansi Anand 2 (242.1) 568; 3. Khushi Tomar 238.9 (574); 4. Shraddha Tomar 235.2 (567).

25m centre fire pistol: Men: 1. Pradhyumn Singh 587; 2. Ankur Goel 583; 3. Sib Kumar Ghosh 578.