Suruchi Phogat from Haryana masters class continuing her winning streak in 10m air pistol selection trials, defeating double Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker at the Dr. Karni Singh Range in Tughlakabad on Thursday. The teenager scored 586 in the qualification round topping the chart. She was followed by Asian Games Champ Palak Gulia at the second spot with a score of 584. Manu Bhaker finished third with a score of 581.

In the 24- shot final, the 18- year-old prodigy took things a notch higher scoring a brilliant 246.5 securing the first place. Notably, Suruchi fell short of the world highest score by only 0.5 points. Chandigarh’s Sainyam, the former World Junior Champion, who was second in the final shot round was far off Suruchi with a score of 241.5. This was Manu Bhaker’s first event since Paris Olympics 2024, where she managed third position.

In the last National Championships held at the same venue, Suruchi was the star clinching three major titles across the Youth, Junior and Senior categories respectively. The winning stint continued even in the ongoing National Games in Uttarakhand where Suruchi dominated the pistol event claiming gold. Suruchi is by far the pick of the season emerging swiftly. It will be interesting to see her in the second selection trials of air pistol today, 14^th February 2025.

Based on the two selection trials, the Indian teams for this season’s two World Cups will be decided. Manu Bhaker has served it good by far in the trials, showing good form in both the 25m pistol as well as air pistol events. She could finish on the podium in all the three trials.

If we talk about the men, in the 50m rifle three positions (3P), Navy’s Kiran Ankush Jadhav finished at the top spot with a score of 460.0 points. Jadhav also won the National title this year. Uttar Pradesh’s Akhil Sheoran finished second, just at 0.2 mark behind. At the third was Army marksman Chain Singh. Olympic bronze medalist Swapnil Kusale who performed well in the earlier trials shot a score of 583 and was placed at 19^th.

In the men’s 10m air pistol event, Army’s Varun Tomar leads the rankings at a score of 243.2. He was followed by Ajendra Singh Chouhan at the second and Rajasthan’s Amit Sharma on the third.