"I'm excited to win bronze medal and Olympic quota place": Akhil Sheoran wins Paris Olympic place in men’s 50m rifle 3 positions at Baku World C'ship

Uttar Pradesh international rifle shooter Akhil Sheoran has India’s individual Olympic champion in 10m air rifle Abhinav Bindra as his idol. The 28-year-old rifle shooter started target shooting when he saw Bindra’s gold-winning feat during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on TV.

On Sunday, August 20, Sheoran won a ticket to the Paris Olympic Games on his way to winning a bronze medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) world championship in Baku, Azerbaijan. Austrian Alexander Schmril won gold while Petr Nymbursky of the Czech Republic won silver.

Sheoran wins India’s second quota place in the rifle event. Last year Swapnil Kusale won the first quota place at the Cairo Worlds. Sheoran said he has been working hard to earn a Paris Olympic Games quota place and was happy to be successful in Baku.

“I’m excited to have won a bronze medal and an Olympic quota place in Baku today,” he said.

Sheoran shot 579 in the elimination round, while in the qualification he scored 585 and qualified for the medal round at the sixth spot. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar missed out on the finals as he shot 583 to finish 13th. While Niraj Kumar shot 577 to finish further down the ladder. The Indian team comprising of Sheoran, Tomar, and Kumar won team gold in 50m rifle 3 positions with a total of 1750 points.

The Indian 25m pistol women’s team comprising Rhythm Sangwan, Manu Bhaker, and Esha Singh also won team gold with a total of 1744. Chinese Taipei won silver. Bronze went to China. Rhythm however finished eighth in the individual 25m pistol event to miss out on the Paris Olympic quota place.

In the skeet mixed team Olympic event, two Indian pairs Angad Vir Singh Bajwa and Parinaaz Dhaliwal, and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka and Ganemat Sekhon finished outside the medals. Anant and Ganemat shot 139 in qualification to finish 25th while Angad and Parinaaz shot 135 to finish 37th.