After they picked up comfortable wins in the first trial and topped qualification for the next, Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala looked on course for a second successive win at the Olympic shooting trials. Mild upsets, however, would take place in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Bhavesh Shekhawat edged Anish 34-29 to win the second trial in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol category, while quota winner Vijayveer Sidhu finished third with a score of 22 points. Adarsh Singh (17) and Ankur Goel (13) followed in fourth and fifth.
In the 25m women’s pistol category, Simranpreet Kaur beat Bhaker in a tight race that went to the wire, her two extra hits in the final two rounds taking her to a score of 37, two more than Bhaker’s 35. Esha Singh was third with 30 points, and quota winner Rhythm Sangwan (24) finished fourth.
This was the second of four trials – the next two take place in Bhopal between May 10 and May 19 – that are set to determine the Indian shooting contingent for Paris 2024. The average of three best scores will be taken into account, and the top two will represent the country at the Olympics.
Bhaker and Anish, both world championship medallists and quota winners in their respective categories, are odds-on favourites to prevail from the trials with a place in the Paris 2024 squad. Even though they remain in comfortable positions on the overall chart, the depth of the domestic competition was on display on Wednesday, not allowing them to sail through even when having off days.
Four of Bhavesh’s eight rounds saw scores of perfect 5s, allowing him to take a three-point lead by the midway point as Anish was put on the backfoot from the first round itself.
Bhavesh was not quick to drown in pride after the performance though. “Happy with the result today but I didn’t feel like there was a performance worthy of the Olympics by any of the players. Too many mistakes. I think we all need a little more work,” he said. “I can say I have more belief after today, hope to keep it going in Bhopal.”
Anish, evidently not down after the loss, would not hesitate to reveal that Paris is already on his mind.
“It’s on everyone’s mind – federation, SAI, shooters, coaches, the media,” he said, gleaming. “I prepared really well, and had some good results, can’t say anything went badly. We have got four trials so I’m looking forward to the next one.”
Simranpreet’s victory would come in a more nervy fashion. With five consecutive rounds of 4s, she was showing consistency after recovering from the first trial in which she finished fourth, 20 points behind Bhaker’s remarkable score of 47, which is six higher than the world record.
But after a slow start, Bhaker had begun dragging it back, and honours were even going into the final two rounds, where Simranpreet stayed consistent and the more experienced Bhaker would blink.
“I was only focused on myself, didn’t know what was going on around me so there was no real reason to feel any pressure,” Simranpreet said after the match. “There was a lot to learn between the first and the second trial, so I did my best to take as many lessons as I could.”
Bhaker, Esha, and Rhythm will all return this week to take part in the first two trials of the 10m air pistol category, while the others will look towards Bhopal for confirmation of their place in the Olympic team.
