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BENGALURU: Ace rifle shooter and coach Rakesh Manpat has decided to shift his focus to pistol shooting and his pursuit for excellence has begun on a bright note with the Karnataka marksman winning the gold in air pistol at the recent State Shooting (National Rules) championships.
The 30-year-old, who finished fifth in the 2010 World Championships and won the gold in 2013 Nationals, said his aim is to make the national squad. “I gave it a try for the last two months and it’s interesting. The mental skill sets are similar but the technical ones are very different,” Manpat told TOI.
“I’m dropping rifle shooting and shifting totally to pistol. I shot centre fire also and in both I have qualified for the All India GV Mavalankar Shooting Championships in Ahmedabad from October 10,” added Manpat, who is making a rare switch after competing as a rifle shooter for the last 15 years.
Manpat, who was the personal coach of Olympian Apurvi Chandela, said his first target is to qualify for the Nationals by doing well at the Mavalankar meet. “The air pistol scores I shot in the National Rules competition are way above the qualifying scores. Going forward, I’ll focus on the rapid fire event. I faced a lot of criticism but I feel it’s a courageous switch,” he said.
Meanwhile, Trishna Nishant Dhamnekar completed a sweep of the air pistol gold, winning in all the four categories.
Results (National Rules, winners only):
Air pistol: Men: Rakesh Manpat (379, KSRA). Junior men: Dhyan T (372, VSCA). Youth men: Dhyan (372, VSCA). Sub-youth: Mahir Ahmed Lakhani (357, HSA). Women: Trishna Nishant Dhamnekar (370, PNSA). Junior women: Trishna. Youth women: Trishna. Sub-youth: Trishna.
25m centre fire pistol: Men: Ravichandra Balehousur (262, HSSA).
25m standard pistol: Ajjay Ratnakar (246, KSRA). 50m free pistol: Men: Sanjay Jayaraman (208, KSRA)
Air rifle: Men: Naren Pranav Vanitha Suresh (391, ASSA). Junior men: Naren. Youth men: Naren. Sub-youth: Naren.
Women: Tilottama Sen (400, ESC).
Junior women: Tilotattama. Youth women: Tilottama. Sub-youth: Tilottama.
Rifle 3 position: Men: Nachiketh Praveen (523, ESC). Junior men: Nachiketh.
Women: Tilottama Sen (543, ESC). Junior women: Tilottama. 50m sport prone: Women: Nirmala Basappa Hasaraddi (539, KSPSPB).
50m rifle prone: Men: Sandeep Purushotham (562, KSRA).
Skeet: Mahesh L Swamy (28). Trap: Mahesha HR (32).
The 30-year-old, who finished fifth in the 2010 World Championships and won the gold in 2013 Nationals, said his aim is to make the national squad. “I gave it a try for the last two months and it’s interesting. The mental skill sets are similar but the technical ones are very different,” Manpat told TOI.
“I’m dropping rifle shooting and shifting totally to pistol. I shot centre fire also and in both I have qualified for the All India GV Mavalankar Shooting Championships in Ahmedabad from October 10,” added Manpat, who is making a rare switch after competing as a rifle shooter for the last 15 years.
Manpat, who was the personal coach of Olympian Apurvi Chandela, said his first target is to qualify for the Nationals by doing well at the Mavalankar meet. “The air pistol scores I shot in the National Rules competition are way above the qualifying scores. Going forward, I’ll focus on the rapid fire event. I faced a lot of criticism but I feel it’s a courageous switch,” he said.
Meanwhile, Trishna Nishant Dhamnekar completed a sweep of the air pistol gold, winning in all the four categories.
Results (National Rules, winners only):
Air pistol: Men: Rakesh Manpat (379, KSRA). Junior men: Dhyan T (372, VSCA). Youth men: Dhyan (372, VSCA). Sub-youth: Mahir Ahmed Lakhani (357, HSA). Women: Trishna Nishant Dhamnekar (370, PNSA). Junior women: Trishna. Youth women: Trishna. Sub-youth: Trishna.
25m centre fire pistol: Men: Ravichandra Balehousur (262, HSSA).
25m standard pistol: Ajjay Ratnakar (246, KSRA). 50m free pistol: Men: Sanjay Jayaraman (208, KSRA)
Air rifle: Men: Naren Pranav Vanitha Suresh (391, ASSA). Junior men: Naren. Youth men: Naren. Sub-youth: Naren.
Women: Tilottama Sen (400, ESC).
Junior women: Tilotattama. Youth women: Tilottama. Sub-youth: Tilottama.
Rifle 3 position: Men: Nachiketh Praveen (523, ESC). Junior men: Nachiketh.
Women: Tilottama Sen (543, ESC). Junior women: Tilottama. 50m sport prone: Women: Nirmala Basappa Hasaraddi (539, KSPSPB).
50m rifle prone: Men: Sandeep Purushotham (562, KSRA).
Skeet: Mahesh L Swamy (28). Trap: Mahesha HR (32).
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