India to start quest for final Paris quota in pistol

New Delhi: Three Indian women air pistol shooters are all set to begin their quest for the only quota spot left to win in the overall pistol discipline as the ISSF Final Olympic Qualification Championships Rifle/Pistol gets underway in the Brazilian city. Rio de Janeiro from Friday.

Two teenagers, Asian Games champion Palak and Chandigarh’s Sanyam, along with Palak’s Haryana teammate Surbhi Rao, will try to claim the second Paris Olympics quota spot in the women’s 10m air pistol.

This will be India’s 20th quota place in shooting, which will also ensure a possible 24th and 25th start for the team in Paris in late July.
Indian shooters have already secured a record 19 quota spots for the Paris 2024 Games, including eight in rifle, seven in pistol and four in shotgun. Isha Singh won the first women’s air pistol quota spot with a gold medal at the Asia Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta at the beginning of the year.

Palak, Sanyam and Surbhi, who are currently ranked third, fifth and sixth in the discipline in India, will aim for the qualification round on Saturday, with the top eight qualifiers competing in the final on Sunday. Two coaches and a physio have also come along with the three shooters.
The 10m air pistol mixed team is the first final scheduled on the opening day of competitions on Friday. A total of 466 athletes from 76 countries have entered the field.