Tokyo-bound Divyansh Singh Panwar sets world record at national shooting trials

Panwar trumped Aishwary Singh Tomar to grab the top spot in the 10m air rifle event with a score of 253.1

2 minBy Samrat Chakraborty
Divyansh Singh Panwar (Photo: Divyansh Singh Panwar / Instagram)
(Divyansh Singh Panwar/Instagram)

Divyansh Singh Panwar set a new world record in the 10m air rifle event when he scored 253.1 during the ongoing national trials at the Dr Karni Singh shooting range on Wednesday. The previous record stood at 252.8.

Panwar beat his fellow Olympic berth holder shooter Aishwary Singh Tomar who finished at 252.6.

In the qualification round, he stood third with 629.7 while Tomar ended up being fifth with 628.7. Paarth Makhija won the qualifiers by scoring 630.3.

However in the finals, it was a fierce battle between the two aces. They were tied at the end of the 24th shot with 242.2 and with the last attempt Panwar got his nose in front after hitting a majestic 10.9 while Tomar could manage only a 10.4.

Saurav Chaudhary bounced back on the second day of the trials and topped the 10m air pistol event.

Chaudhary scored 243.1 in the T4 trials while runner-up Sarabjot Singh finished on 242.8. T3 winner Army's Ravinder Singh came a distant third with a score of 222.1.

Chaudhary has won two of four trials held in 2021 and has booked a place in the all finals. He also won the first Asian Online Shooting Championship held last month.

Chinki Yadav and Tejaswini Sawant won the women's 25m pistol and 50m rifle 3-position events respectively.

Tokyo 2020 quota holder Yadav won the T4 trials with a score of 37, beating Tejaswini of Haryana shot 33. However, Manu Bhaker, who won the qualification with a resounding 587, failed to replicate her form in the final round and finished fifth with just 19.

On the other hand, Maharashtra's Tejaswini scored 456.7 in 50m rifle to edge Gujarat's Lajja Gauswami who hit 455. Sawant was unstoppable throughout the day as he won the qualification round as well with a score of 1169.