West Bengal’s Ayushi Podder won the Women’s 50M Rifle 3 Positions (3P) T3 competition as the National Selection Trial 3 & 4 for Rifle events, got underway at New Delhi’s Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range (DKSSR). She got the better of Punjab’s Sift Kaur Samra 16-10 in the gold medal match.
Ayushi, presently ranked fourth in the country in the Women’s 3P Olympic event, made it to the top eight semi-final stage with a qualification round score of 585 out of 600, giving her fifth place in the 86-strong field. Among those who qualified were India number one Anjum Moudgil of Punjab and veteran Lajja Gauswami of Gujarat. Haryana’s Meena Kumari topped the stage with a fluent 589.
In the semi-finals, Punjab’s Sift Kaur Samra, ranked three in the event in India, topped with a score of 407.4 to make it to the gold medal encounter. Ayushi followed her with 402 while Ashi Chouksey of Madhya Pradesh (M.P) won bronze with a score of 399.4.
In the Junior Women’s 3P, Haryana’s Nischal emerged triumphant when she overwhelmed Ashi, who otherwise had a good day, 16-6 in the gold medal match. Mansi Sudhir Singh Kathait ensured M.P had half the day’s medals to their name, winning bronze in the event.
The National Selection Trial 3 & 4 for Rifle events are scheduled till April 17, 2022.