India's Tokyo 2020 Olympic-bound 10M Pistol and Rifle Mixed Team pairs, put up stellar shows while participating in the Minimum Qualification Score (MQS) section of the events, at the ongoing European Shooting Championship in Osijek, Croatia, on Wednesday.
The day began with the world number one and two pairings of Elavenil Valarivan and Divyansh Singh Panwar shooting a combined score of 630.6 in the first qualifying round.
They finished second overall among 51 pairs, five of which were shooting in the MQS section. The pair would have sailed through comfortably to the next stage where only the top eight pairs make it. The Norwegian pair of Jaeanette Duestad and Henrik Larsen topped the stage with a European record score of 632.0.
Then in the 10M Air Pistol Mixed Team competitions, India's top team comprising of Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary also came overall second among 43 pairs, shooting a combined score of 580 out of a possible 600.
They finished behind the table-topping Russian pair of Vitalina Batsarashkina and Artem Chernousov. The Russians competing in the regular section shot 583.
While both Elavenil and Divyansh were neck and neck in their 30-shot round returning with scores of 315.8 to 314.8 respectively, Saurabh Chaudhary was way ahead of almost the entire field yet again, shooting a stunning 294 out of 300. Manu shot 286 while only the Russian world number three Chernousov was above Saurabh with a 295.
The second Indian pair in the Mixed Team Rifle event comprising of Anjum Moudgil and Deepak Kumar, shot a total of 622.2 to finish 38thoverall and third among five in the MQS section.
Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Abhishek Verma, the second Indian team in the Mixed Team Pistol competitions, also had a decent outing, finishing ninth overall with a score of 575. The Turkish pair above them was only a point ahead at 576.
The 13-member Pistol and Rifle Olympic squads' training cum competition trip continues at the Osijek European Championship and Thursday will see members in action in the MQS section of the Prone events.
( With inputs from ANI )
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