The women’s 25m-pistol event is one of its kind. An equivalent event for the men in the Olympics does not exist, but they do have a slightly tweaked version of the event in the form of the 25 rapid fire pistol. The event will be held on the 4th day (9th August 2016), tucked neatly between the men’s air rifle and the men’s pistol events.
Heena Sidhu, who’s booked her ticket to Rio with a ton of expectations from her nation, will be the only candidate to represent India in this event. Sidhu is the world number one and record holder, albeit in her other event, the women’s 10m air pistol event.
The 26-year-old is poised to shift it up a notch this year at the games after her brilliant performance at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon where she bagged the bronze in the event. Sidhu has been niche training with specifics underscoring areas like the trigger action. She’s a hot young prospect to look out for this games on your screen and will be carrying the hopes of the nation for this event.
Also read: Analysing Heena Sidhu's medal chances in her second Olympics
What is the 25m-pistol event?
The event isn’t as dramatic as one would imagine. It revolves around testing the accuracy and speed and tries its best to eliminate the chances of a “lucky hit” by emphasizing the importance of repetition. A pistol of maximum weight of 1.4kg is used to shoot at a target set 25m away at a height of 1.4m above the floor.
The qualification round
Each athlete has to fire a total of 60 shots, which are divided into two subcategories – 30 Precision Stage shots and 30 Rapid Fire stage shots. In the former, three sets of 10 shots each are fired within a timeframe of 30 minutes. In the latter of the two, the Rapid Fire stage, the green light turns on for 3 seconds giving a short time slot for each candidate to get her shot. The red lights between each green light act as a break of 7 seconds.
Each shot is graded out of integer score with the best as 10 points hence making a maximum total of 600.
The semifinal round
The top 8 candidates from the previous round have to fire five 5 shot series each. The scoring system changes here from the integer grading system out of 10 to a simple hit-or-miss system where a 10.2 or higher is a hit and 10.1 or lower is a miss.
The shootout for the medals
The top two fight for the Gold and the Silver medals respectively whereas the third and fourth placed shooters fight for the bronze. A tie for any of these spots is usually resolved by an additional 5-shot series until the tie is broken.
Each series of 5 shots features a system in which the athlete with the higher number of hits gets 2 points and the other gets 0. A draw sees both get 1 each. A winner is declared when one of the two Olympians reaches 7 points
Indians at the event:
Heena Sidhu
London 2012 result:
Gold – Jangmi Kim (KOR)
Silver- Ying Chen (CHN)
Bronze- Olena Kostevych (UKR)
