Bhopal, Feb 25 (IANS): India’s Paris Olympic quota holders had a field day on the first finals day of the National Rifle/Pistol Selection Trials 3&4, with West Bengal’s Mehuli Ghosh and Haryana’s Anish Bhanwala claiming gold at the M.P. State Shooting Academy ranges here on Sunday. Army marksman Ganga Singh bucked the trend in the day’s final event, winning the men’s 50m rifle 3 position (3P) with plenty to spare.
The two national rifle and pistol selection trials go on till March 1 with each day having three finals scheduled, barring the last two days which have two each.
Mehuli first winner of the day
Mehuli Ghosh was the first winner of the day and of this round of trials, qualifying for the top eight with a characteristically solid 631.5 in the first 60-shot round. Tamil Nadu’s R. Narmada Nithin topped with 632.5.
In the final, Mehuli was joint-third behind Punjab’s Jasmeen Kaur and local favourite Ashi Chouksey after the first five-shot series. She went down to fourth in the middle and only got back to that position after the 16th single shot with Jasmeen and Ashi still 1-2.
Thereafter she shot 10.7 or above in five of her last eight shots, the 17th being a perfect 10.9, to pip Ashi by 0.1 and finish with 251.6. Jasmeen settled for third with 229.9.
The men’s 25m rapid fire pistol (RFP) event just emphatically reinforced Anish Bhanwala’s stature as India’s number one RFP shooter as he cantered home with a 32-hits in the six-man 40-shot final. Army marksman Gurmeet was a distance behind with 29 hits while Rajasthan’s Bhavesh Shekhwat was third with 22.
Anish had earlier topped qualification over two days with a total of 589 with Gurmeet again way behind in second with 583. Ankur Goel who was the final qualifier was a dozen points behind Anish.
No stopping Ganga Singh
In the final event of the day, the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P), Ganga Singh representing the Army Marksmanship Unit, stunned the field with a sumptuous display. His final score of 458.5, was a huge 4.1 ahead of Goldie Gurjar, another local hope who came second best on the day.
Navy’s Saurav Gorakh Lagad was third in a final that had all shooters from the Services besides Goldie. Ganga had earlier qualified third with a score of 581