Arjun Babuta stood out on the seventh day of the ongoing Olympic Selection Trials (OST) for Rifle and Pistol, surpassing the existing finals world record in men’s 10M Air Rifle.
His stunning score of 254.0 in the OST T1 final on Thursday exceeded the mark set by fellow finalist and India teammate Divyansh Singh Panwar at the Cairo World Cup earlier this year.
Other winners in their respective OST T1 final matches included Nancy (women’s 10M Air Rifle), Varun Tomar (men’s 100M Air Pistol), and Rhythm Sangwan (women’s 10M Air Pistol), as per a press release from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
Arjun’s performance featured two perfect 10.9 scores, along with 13 other shots scoring 10.6 or higher. His lowest score of 10.0 came on the 21st shot, by which time he had already established a substantial lead, ultimately winning by 2.8 points over 2022 world champ Rudrankksh Patil. Sri Karthik Sabari Raj finished third.
Nancy displayed a strong performance in the women’s 10M Air Rifle OST T1 final, securing a comfortable victory. Her score of 253.4 narrowly missed the world record but was enough to fend off quota holder Mehuli Ghosh by 0.7 points. Olympian Elavenil Valarivan finished third.
In the men’s 10M Air Pistol final, Paris quota holder Varun Tomar clinched another win with a score of 244.1. Ravinder Singh came second, trailing by 4.1 points, while fellow Paris quota holder Sarabjot Singh secured third place with a score of 217.4.
Rhythm Sangwan, who had qualified for both the Air Pistol and Sport Pistol trials, redeemed herself with a strong performance in the Air Pistol event, securing the overall lead after the first trial match.
After topping qualifications with a score of 578, she maintained her lead throughout the final, finishing with a score of 243.5, significantly ahead of second-placed Manu Bhaker. Reigning Asian Games champion Palak secured third place.
The day also featured qualification rounds for the men’s and women’s 50M Rifle 3 Positions OST T2, with Olympians Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Anjum Moudgil leading the scoring charts, respectively. Aishwary notably posted a remarkable score of 595, creating an eight-point gap between him and his closest competitor.