Shooters Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala shone at the Asian Championships in Changwon, Korea, giving India 11th and 12th Paris Olympic quota in shooting. So far, 27 Indian athletes have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anish Bhanwala secured third place in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event at the Asian Championship. Japan's Dai Yoshioka defeated Anish Bhanwala and bagged the silver medal. Lee Gunhyeok of South Korea bagged the gold medal.
The Karnal boy earned the quota for the Paris Olympics by qualifying for the six-man final. Bhanwala took the third qualifying spot with a score of 588, which was just one behind table topper China's Wang Xinjie.
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Bhavesh Shekhawat, another Indian, made it to the top eight in the qualification but failed to make it to the final.
Meanwhile, Manu Bhaker, who recently clinched a gold medal with the women's 25m pistol team at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, earned the 11th Paris Olympics quota place for India. She secured fifth place in the women's 25m pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championships on Saturday.
Bhaker, a popular face in Indian shooting, had also secured the quota for the 2022 Tokyo Olympics but missed out on an international medal as she shot only 24 in the final.
Bhaker was fabulous throughout the contest and could have secured a top-two finish until a score of two and three in the seventh and eighth series derailed her chances. She then entered into a shoot-off with Zhao Nan of China for the fourth position.
Speaking to media persons, Bhaker said, "The aim was obviously the quota place because there are few chances left to win them after this. So, yes, I am happy that I have won the quota but a podium finish would have been better. I have been working on a few improvements and I feel I am on the right track but will need to work even harder from here."
After Sarabjot Singh, Manu has become the second shooter to have clinched an Olympic quota for India. India has so far won seven quota places in rifle events and two each in shotgun and pistol in men's and women's categories.
Simranpreet Kaur Brar bagged two silver medals in the junior women's 25m pistol. She shot 28 in the final, finishing behind Liang Xiaoyu of China, who took home the gold medal.