Sandhu and Chenai could come up with scores of 68 and 67 respectively in the three rounds after a total of 33 shooters participated on day 1 with each athlete taking 75 shots each.
Sandhu scored 23, 23, 22, while Chenai posted 22, 23, 22 in the three rounds at the shotgun range in Olympic shooting centre here.
After the completion of the first round, Sandhu was placed at 14th while Chenai lied at 28th spot. The former improved a place with a score of 46 in the second round, while Chenai too rose to the 16th spot with a score of 45.
The duo will return on Monday for the second day of qualification where there will be two more rounds of 25 targets each.
At the top, Fabbrizi Massimo of Italy was the only shooter to produce a record score of 75, while Great Britain's Ling Edward and Italian Pellielo Giovanni were placed at the second and third spot with 73 each.
Top six shooters after Day 1
- Massimo Fabbrizi - Italy (75)
- Edward Ling - Great Britain (73)
- Giovanni Pellielo - Italy (73)
- Josip Glasnovic - Croatia (72)
- David Kostelecky - Czech Republic (72)
- Roberto Schmits - Brazil (71).