Sakshi Padekar and Shahu Mane shine in National Selection Trials with record scores

Sakshi Padekar and Shahu Mane bettered national record scores in the 10m Air Rifle events at the National Selection Trials in Delhi. Arjun Babuta won the men’s final, Sakshi the women’s, while Rahi Sarnobat claimed gold in the 25m Pistol

New Delhi: Maharashtra’s Sakshi Sunil Padekar and Railways’ Shahu Tushar Mane bettered national record scores in the finals and qualification rounds of the 10m Air Rifle women’s and men’s events, respectively, as competition in National Selection Trials 1 & 2 (Group A) heated up at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in the National Capital Region.

Sakshi shot 254.3 in the T2 final while Shahu Mane scored 637.1 in the men’s T2 qualification. Both scores were better than the national record, though trial scores are not considered official records. Olympian Arjun Babuta won the T2 men’s final, while Sakshi claimed the women’s title. Olympian Rahi Sarnobat won the T2 final in the women’s 25m Pistol.

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Sakshi Padekar dominates 10m Air Rifle Women (Trial 2)
Sakshi Padekar produced a commanding performance, topping qualification with 634.4 and backing it up with 254.3 in the final — better than Elavenil Valarivan’s national record set at the Asian Shooting Championship last year.

Kerala’s Vidarsa K Vinod shot 252.0 to finish second, while Valarivan, who had qualified second with 633.4, claimed third with 231.4. Uttar Pradesh’s Khyati Chaudhary finished fourth (209.7), Delhi’s Rajshree Anilkumar Sancheti fifth (188.6), Maharashtra’s Arya Rajesh Borse sixth (167.5), and Trial 1 winner Tilottama Sen seventh (145.3). West Bengal’s Ismita Bhowal did not start the final despite qualifying sixth with 631.6.

Arjun Babuta wins 10m Air Rifle Men (Trial 2)
Olympian Arjun Babuta claimed top honours in a close final, finishing with 253.4. He edged Maharashtra’s Parth Rakesh Mane by just 0.1 point (253.3), with both shooting 10.8 in their last shot. Navy’s Kiran Ankush Jadhav secured third with 231.2.

Delhi’s Paarth Makhiya finished fourth (210.1), Telangana’s Dhanush Srikanth fifth (187.9). Top qualifier Shahu Mane, who had shot 637.1 in qualification, finished sixth (166.5) after a shoot-off with Haryana’s Samarvir Singh (145.2). Maharashtra’s Gajanan Shahadev Khandagale ended eighth (121.9).

Rahi Sarnobat storms to gold
Former Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat won the 25m Pistol Women Trial 2 final with 43 hits. Haryana’s Vibhuti Bhatia finished second (35 hits).

Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, who topped qualification with 589-24x, settled for third (31 hits). Punjab’s Arshdeep Kaur was fourth (23), Simranpreet Kaur Brar fifth (17), and Riya Singh sixth (7). Anjali Choudhary and Esha Singh did not start the final.

The action continues Saturday with the 10m Air Pistol Trial 1 events for men and women.