Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], June 8 : Former Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat produced a commanding performance to win the women's 25m pistol T4 finals of the National Selection Trials 4 for Group A Rifle and Pistol shooters, being held at the Trishul Shooting Range of the Maharana Pratap Sports College in Dehradun on Monday.
Olympian Rahi looked in control throughout the final and finished with 37 hits to comfortably take the top spot. Two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker settled for silver with 35 hits, while Karnataka's Divya TS claimed bronze with 29 hits, as per a press release from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
Tamil Nadu's Niveditha V Nair finished fourth with 24 hits, while Olympian Rhythm Sangwan was fifth with 22 hits, while Punjab's Arshdeep Kaur finished sixth with 18 hits. Maharashtra's Abhidnya Ashok Patil took seventh place with 13 hits, while Madhya Pradesh's Chinki Yadav, who had topped qualification with a score of 586-22x, finished eighth with nine hits.
Earlier in the qualification, Manu Bhaker finished second with 584-16x, while Arshdeep Kaur and Rahi Sarnobat were third and fourth, respectively, with scores of 579-20x and 579-18x. Niveditha V Nair qualified fifth with 579-12x, while Rhythm Sangwan and Divya TS both shot 578-16x, with the former placed ahead on countback. Abhidnya Patil secured the final qualifying berth with 576-15x.
In the national rankings, world record holder and ISSF World Cup 2026 Munich gold medallist Esha Singh retained the top position despite not participating in the trials, while Manu remained second. Rahi moved up to third in the standings, swapping places with Divya, who dropped to fourth. Rhythm stays in fifth place, while Chinki Yadav climbed from ninth to sixth after her qualification performance.
The T4 Rifle/Pistol trials are crucial from an Asian Games perspective, with 15 men and 15 women shooters set to represent India across the 28 shooting events in Aichi-Nagoya later this year. The 12-member shotgun squad has already been announced, while the rifle and pistol teams will be finalised after the conclusion of the ongoing trials.
Action resumes on Tuesday with four finals scheduled, including the men's and women's 10m air pistol events as well as the men's and women's 50m rifle 3 positions competitions.