Mixed show by Aishwary Pratap, Sanjeev Rajput in European shooting championships
Weather conditions impacted the performance of the Indian shooters in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event.
India’s Olympic-bound shooters Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Sanjeev Rajput put up a decent show in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event at the European Championships in Osijek, Croatia.
Competing in the Minimum Qualification Score (MQS) category, Aishwary Pratap finished third with an aggregate of 1172. This performance was good for the 24th spot in the overall qualification.
Sanjeev Rajput, a two-time Olympian, could only manage 1162 across the three series of kneeling, standing and prone, and had to settle for an eighth-place finish among 11 competitors.
Pourya Norouziyan of Iran topped the MQS charts with 1174 while Italian Simon Weithaler was second with a score of 1173.
Shooters competing in the MQS category are not eligible to participate in the medal rounds.
Tomar and Rajput made a strong start with impressive scores in the kneeling and the prone position. The two even managed a perfect 100 in one of their kneeling series. But a change in the weather saw them struggle in the standing segment.
While Aishwary Pratap, a gold medallist for the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi earlier this year, could manage 385 in his standing segment, Sanjeev Rajput had to be content with 379 out of the possible 400 from his 40 shots.
“The regular and MQS details were separate. The regulars shot in the morning when the weather was good and the wind was calm. Our guys too had good starts, but the wind picked up just before the standing position and scores probably dropped off a bit due to that,” Indian rifle coach Deepali Deshpande told PTI.
“Aishwary, in particular, is a strong standing shooter in 3P and after the first two positions, we were expecting better of course but, in the end, given the circumstances, I would say we were pleased.”
Both Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Sanjeev Rajput will compete in the 50m rifle 3 positions category at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
The 13-member Indian shooting team is in Croatia to train for the Olympics in July-August. Apart from the European Championships, the Indian shooters will also compete in the ISSF World Cup next month before heading to Tokyo.