Shooter Ayonika Paul earns India another spot in Olympics

After Apurvi Chandela secured a place in the Olympics after winning bronze at the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) in Changwon, Korea last year, Ayonika Paul and Pooja Ghatkar entered the competition in search of confirming the second quota for the country.

Ayonika finished third in qualification scoring 416.6 points (103.3, 104.7, 103.8, 104.8), while Pooja finished sixth with a score of 415.6 (104.6, 104.3, 104.4, 102.3) to enter the final. In the final, Pooja led from the start till the 11th shot with fellow Indian Ayonika in a close second. A 9.9 in the 12th shot cost Pooja the lead as she slipped to second place giving Ayonika the lead. The Indian duo kept their positions intact till the 16th shot to confirm the medals, but an 8.8 from Pooja in the 18th shot finished her chances of earning an Olympic quota and she ended with the bronze.

Going into the last shot, Ayonika had a lead of 0.5 points over Najmeh Khedmati from Iran, but her last shot of 9.9 and Najmeh’s 10.4 meant a shoot-off for the gold medal. Another 9.9 from the Indian and a 10.1 from the Iranian settled the medals giving the Indian the silver medal and an Olympic quota.

In the Men’s 50m Pistol event, India’s Omkar Singh finished fourth in the final with a score of 147. However, there was no Olympic quota on offer for India with Jitu Rai and Prakash Nanjappa having already secured their places in the quadrennial event.  

(Read: Shooter Kynan Chenai earns ticket to Rio Olympics)