Bhanwala wins rapid fire pistol bronze and Olympic quota

Anish Bhanwala
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Anish Bhanwala rose above a bunch of Chinese to win the bronze medal and the Olympic quota in 25m rapid fire pistol in the Asian shooting championship in Changwon, Korea, on Monday.

The 21-year-old, who qualified strongly with a 588, missed out on a chance for a better medal as he lost the shoot-off against the eventual silver medallist Dai Yoshioka of Japan. Korea’s Lee Gunhyeok edged out the Japanese by one point for the gold.

It was the 12th Olympic quota for India, and fifth in the ongoing Asian championship after the ones won by Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Babuta, Tilottama Ssen and Manu Bhaker.

Trap shooter Zoravar Singh Sandhu also gave himself a good chance for an Olympic quota when he qualified with the leading score of 119, but ended up sixth subsequently.

Meanwhile, in the 50m rifle 3-position event, Melvina Angeline won silver behind Luo Shuang of China.

The Indian shooters will have the Asian shotgun championship in Kuwait and the Asian rifle and pistol championship in Indonesia which will offer a total of 24 Olympic quota. There will also be a final Olympic qualification event in Rio, Brazil and Doha, Qatar.

The results:

25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Lee Gunhyeok (Kor) 34 (587), 2. Dai Yoshioka (Jpn) 33 (582), 3. Anish Bhanwala 28 (588); 10. Vijayveer Sidhu 581; 25. Adarsh Singh 579. RPO: Bhavesh Shekhawat 584; Gurpreet Singh 577.

Team: 1. China 1758, 2. Korea 1748, 3. India 1739.

Air rifle: Mixed youth team: 1. China 16 (625.5), 2. Korea 14 (623.8), 3. India (Hazel, Sheerssh Kashyap) 17 (623.3); 4. Sri Lanka (Siyathi Galagedara, Randhir Senaratne) 5 (598.2).

Trap: Men: 1. Qi Ying (Chn) 47 (119), 2. Saeed Abusharib (Qat) 43 (118), 3. Seyed Rohollahi (Iri) 32 (117); 6. Zoravar Singh Sandhu 17 (119); 16. Prithviraj Tondaiman 111; 17. Kynan Chenai 111; RPO: Lakshay Sheoran 13; Bhowneesh Mendiratta 110.

Team: 1. Qatar 344, 2. India 341, 3. Iran 340.

Women: 1. Bassil Ray (Lbn) 40 (114), 2. Cho Seonah (Kor) 37 (111), 3. Wang Xiaojing (Chn) 31 (112); 10. Preeeti Rajak 103; 17. Manisha Keer 98; 21. Sabeera Haris 94. RPO: Rajeshwari Kumari 108; Shagun Chowdhary 107.

Team: 1. China 322, 2. Korea 314, 3. Kazakhstan 299; 4. India 295.

50m rifle 3-position: Junior women: 1. Luo Shuang (Chn) 459.2 (588), 2. Melvina Angeline 455.6 (584), 3. Jiao Ruoxuan (Chn) 445.9 (588); 14. Nupur Kummrawat 578; 16. Sharanya akhan 575; 18. Nikita Kundu 573; 19. Khushi 571; 21. Antil 565.

Team: 1. China 1748, 2. Kazakhstan 1738, 3. India 1735.