Sanjana B, Pune
The Indian air pistol team won a bronze medal in the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship on August 17. The team came third in the 10-meter air pistol event in the competition held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The air pistol World Championship serves as a qualification tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Shiva Narwal, Sarabjot Singh, and Arjun Singh Cheema were on the team that scored an aggregate of 1,734 as they lost to Germany. The trio individually shot 579, 578, and 577, respectively.
The Indian team was only a few points away from winning the gold medal as they lost to the Chinese team, who scored an aggregate of 1749 points, and the German team, with an aggregate of 1743 points.
Despite this achievement, neither of the three shooters made the eight-player final and could not contest for individual medals. Narwal ranked 17 followed by Singh at the 18th position and Cheema at 24.
India’s female air pistol shooting contestants, however, could not qualify either for the team event or individually. The trio consisted of Esha Singh who secured the 16th position overall, Palak Gulia at 30, and Divya TS at 40. As a team, the players were ranked 11 out of 24.
India will be sending Manu Bhaker, the 2018 ISSF World Cup champion who won two gold medals, and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, the bronze medal winner in the 50 metre rifle three positions event at the 2019 Asian Shooting Championships to contest later.
The championship, held from 17 to 24 August, will fulfill 48 quotas for the Paris Olympics.