Esha Singh and Manu Bhaker in contention for 25m pistol final

Cairo, Nov 13 (PTI) Indian shooters Esha Singh and Manu Bhaker were in strong contention for a place in the final of the women’s 25m Sport Pistol event at the ISSF World Championship after the completion of the precision stage here on Thursday.

Esha stands fourth while Manu is placed seventh among the lineup of 85 shooters.

Olympian Esha shot 294-11x (98, 97, 99) while double Olympic medallist Manu shot 292-11x (98, 96, 98) to keep herself within striking distance of the leaders. The third Indian in the fray, Rahi Sarnobat, is currently placed 56th with 284-7x (95, 96, 93).

Currently leading the qualification is Turkey’s Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, who was flawless with a near perfect 299-12x (100, 100, 99), followed by Paris Olympic silver medalist Camille Jedrzejewski of France (98, 99, 98) and Iran's Haniyeh Rostamiyan (99, 99, 97) both with 295-13x, the French shooter taking second place on countback.

Iran’s Golnoush Sebghatollahi and Mina Ghorbani are placed fifth and sixth respectively, both with 292-13x, while Lin Jou-Yu of Chinese Taipei completes the top eight with 292-9x (97, 97, 98).

The top eight shooters after the completion of the qualification rounds will advance to the medal round. The Rapid stage will take place tomorrow, followed by the final scheduled on the same day. PTI BS APA APA