Indian shooter dropped from Asian Olympic Qualifier over sexual harassmemt complaint - Report

An Indian shooter is reportedly said to be dropped from the squad for the ongoing Asian Olympic Qualifier in Jakarta, Indonesia, over a complaint of sexual harassment.

The anonymous shooter was set to participate in the 25m rapid-fire pistol event but was replaced before the squad left for Jakarta.

According to a report in The Tribune, the shooter was missing from the preparatory camp at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi on December 29, 2023. He wasn't found till January 4 this year.

The report cited sources claiming that the shooter was involved in a complaint lodged by a woman. Even his family wasn't aware of his whereabouts by the time the Indian shooting contingent left Jakarta.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) confirmed through an email that the shooter was dropped from the squad and strict action would be taken against him.

"This is true that we have replaced a shooter for the Asia Olympics qualifiers. He went missing from the national camp for days," NRAI secretary general K Sultan Singh told The Tribune.

"We tried contacting the family but there was no word. However, his father got in touch and requested us to send him along with the team. We told him that his name has been replaced for disciplinary reasons,” he added.

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Teenage female shooter stars on Day 3 in Qualifier event

Indian shooter Nancy displayed a tremendous show on the third day of the Asian Olympic Qualifier. She won the gold medal in women's 10m air rifle with a record score of 252.8 (Asian junior record).

Nancy along with Elavenil Valarivan and Mehuli Ghosh clinched the team gold, defeating Singapore in the final.

Rudrankksh Patil qualified with an impressive total of 630.4 to secure the third spot, while Arjun Babuta was a spot behind with 629.6.

Another teenage star Esha Singh, who recently won gold in the women's 10m Air Pistol final en route to a Paris quota, shot 291 to secure third place and qualify in the women's 25m pistol event.

Rhythm Sangwan was at fifth with a score of 290 and Simranpreet Kaur Brar finished 12th with 287 points.