Rahi Sarnobat, Mehuli Ghosh, Niraj Kumar Dominate Day 5 of National Shooting Selection Trials
Raipur | June 28, 2025: Day 5 of the National Selection Trials 3&4 for Group A Rifle and Pistol shooters witnessed standout performances from India’s top shooting talents, with Olympian Rahi Sarnobat, Asian champion Mehuli Ghosh, and Navy shooter Niraj Kumar emerging victorious in their respective finals at the Trishul Shooting Range in Raipur.
Rahi Sarnobat Clinches Women’s 25m Pistol Title
In the Women’s 25m Pistol T4 final, 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat displayed poise and precision to outclass her competitors. She scored 40 hits to secure first place, finishing six points ahead of Maharashtra’s Abhidnya Ashok Patil (34). Haryana’s Vibhuti Bhatia completed the podium with a score of 27.
Qualification Highlights:
- Rahi and Olympian Rhythm Sangwan both posted 582, with Rhythm edging ahead with 18 inner 10s.
- Other qualifiers included Anjali Choudhary (579-17x), Ishneet Aulakh (578-16x), Heena Sidhu (577-10x), and Chinki Yadav (576-14x).
Mehuli Ghosh Tops Women’s 10m Air Rifle Final
Mehuli Ghosh continued her strong run in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle (ARW) event, scoring 253.6 in the T4 finals to clinch the top spot. She narrowly trailed Ramita Jindal (633.5) in the qualification round by just 0.2.
Final Podium:
- Mehuli Ghosh – 253.6 (Winner)
- Meghana M. Sajjanar (Railways) – 253.1 (2nd Place)
- Sonam Uttam Maskar – 231.4 (3rd Place)
Ramita finished fourth after being eliminated with 210.0, just 0.1 behind Sonam.
Qualification Leaderboard:
- Ramita Jindal – 633.5
- Mehuli Ghosh – 633.3
- Meghana Sajjanar – 631.9
- Sonam Maskar – 631.6
Navy’s Niraj Kumar Wins Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Final
Niraj Kumar, representing the Navy, delivered a top-class performance in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) T3 final, scoring 463.9 to take the gold. He beat Army’s Babu Singh Panwar, who had topped the qualification with 591-32x, but settled for silver in the final with 457.3. Two-time Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar finished third with 447.0.
T3 Qualification Highlights:
- Babu Singh Panwar – 591-32x
- Swapnil Kusale – 590-42x
- Niraj Kumar – 590-35x
- Nikhil Tanwar – 589-39x
- Surya Pratap Singh Banshtu – 589-27x
- Rudrankksh Patil & Pratham Bhadana – 587-30x each
What’s Next
The same shooters will return on Sunday, June 29, for the T4 qualification and final rounds of the Men’s 3P event. The schedule will also include:
- 10m Air Pistol T3 qualifications and finals (Men’s and Women’s categories)