Manu Bhaker emerges as most successful shooter in Olympic selection trials

Olympian shooter Manu Bhaker emerged as the standout athlete in the Olympic Selection Trials (OST) for Rifle/Pistol, winning the women's 10m air pistol OST T4 match on the final day of the event in Bhopal on Sunday.

This victory marks Manu's fourth win in the trials across two events, the other being the women's 25m sports pistol.

In the OST T4 10m air pistol final, Manu shot a score of 240.8 at the MP State Shooting Academy ranges, finishing 4.4 points ahead of Hangzhou Asian Games champion Palak, who secured second place. Rhythm Sangwan claimed the third spot.

Earlier in the trials, Elavenil Valarivan won the women's 10m air rifle OST T4 with a score of 254.3, narrowly surpassing the current world record of 254.0 set by China's Han Jiayu at the ISSF World Cup in Baku this month. Ramita and Mehuli Ghosh finished in second and third place with scores of 253.3 and 230.3, respectively.

In the men's air rifle OST T4, Divyansh Panwar emerged victorious with a score of 253.3, just 0.4 points shy of his own world record. Arjun Babuta and Rudrankksh Patil followed in second and third places with scores of 250.0 and 229.5, respectively.

Ravinder Singh triumphed in the men's 10m air pistol OST T4 final with a score of 242.2. Varun Tomar and Sarabjot Singh took second and third places with scores of 239.4 and 218.9, respectively.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) conducted a series of four trials in Delhi and Bhopal for pistol and rifle to select the squad for the Paris Olympics. The top-three scores in the trials, combined with Paris Olympics quota bonus points, will determine the selection of the Indian squad for the Summer Games.

Indian shooters will next compete in the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol, scheduled from May 31 to June 8 in Munich.

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