Himanshu Dhillon from Haryana secured a narrow victory over Parth Rakesh Mane of Maharashtra in the men’s 10m air rifle final at the T4 national selection trials for Rifle and Pistol shooters in Dehradun. Himanshu’s final shot, scoring 10.6 against Parth’s 10.3, led him to win by a mere 0.2 points, finishing with a total of 252.2. Parth Makhija from Delhi claimed the bronze medal.
Deeksha Vaishya of Uttar Pradesh dominated the women’s air rifle event, taking the lead early in the competition. Despite strong competition, she maintained her position and finished with a score of 252.7, defeating Ashi Chouksey by 1.2 points. Sonam Uttam Maskar from Railways secured the bronze medal in this category.
In the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol final, Suraj Sharma emerged victorious with a score of 29. Ankur Goel from Uttarakhand came in second with 27 points, followed by Bhavesh Shekhawat in third place with 25 hits.
Following the competitions, Parth claimed the top spot in the national rankings, with Himanshu securing the second position. Sonam Maskar moved up to second place in the women’s air rifle rankings after the T4 trials, trailing Elavenil Valarivan. In the men’s RFP rankings, Navy veteran Omkar Singh secured the second spot behind Anish.
The T4 Rifle/Pistol trials hold significance for the upcoming Asian Games, where 15 men and 15 women shooters will participate in 28 shooting events. While the 12-member Shotgun team has been finalized, the Rifle and Pistol teams’ selection will follow these trials.
