Paris Olympics 2024: Indian air pistol shooters face tough challenge in final qualification event
India’s women 10m air pistol shooters Palak Gulia, Surbhi Rao and Sainyam will have a tough challenge against a world-class 52-shooter strong field, in their quest for a spot in the Paris Olympics 2024.
The final qualification campaign is underway at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Final Olympic Qualification Championship Rifle/Pistol in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
All three Indian shooters will be competing in the women’s 10m air pistol event on April 14. Notably, India can secure only one spot for the Paris Olympics at the final qualifying event in Rio.
The top two shooters in each individual event (with a maximum of one per country), given their eligibility and provided their respective countries have not yet secured their full allocation for the event, will earn quotas for Paris Olympics from Rio.
Both the qualification and final were held on the same day till now. However, there will be a change to the norm for Rifle/Pistol shooters worldwide that they have to come back the next day for the 24-shot match.
That is the big change that shooters will have to adapt to, given that is how the schedule will be at the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics in July. Foreign coach Munkhbayar Dorsjuren, who is with the Indian squad, had his say ahead of the qualifiers.
“Our shooters have trained hard and are confident going into the competition tomorrow. It is a tough challenge, but we are sure if we put our best foot forward, we will achieve our goal,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
Some competitors who are likely to give a tough time to the Indian team are the likes of Veronika Major (Hungary), Sandra Reitz (Germany), Yu Ai Wen (Chinese Taipei), Haniyeh Rostamiyan (Iran), Yulia Korostylova (Ukraine), Teh Xiu Hong (Singapore) and Tanyaporn Prucksakorn (Thailand) among others.
India has so far secured 19 quotas for Paris Olympics 2024
Each country can secure a maximum of 24 quotas in shooting for the Paris Olympics, with eight each available in rifle and as many in pistol and shotgun events.
So far, Indian shooters have already secured 19 quotas in rifle, pistol, and shotgun events. Palak Gulia, Surbhi Rao, and Sainyam are part of the Indian squad for the ISSF Final Olympic Qualification Championship 2024 in Rio.
The trio will be aiming for one quota in the women’s 10m air pistol category to help India achieve full allocation in both rifle and pistol shooting events at Paris 2024.
It’s important to note that Esha Singh clinched the other women’s 10m air pistol quota from the Asian Qualifying event held in Jakarta in January 2024.