Jakarta: In Asian Olympic Qualifiers, Indian male shooters hit gold in a 10m air pistol team event, creating a spectacular opening to their campaign on Monday, PTI reported.
The Indian team of Varun Tomar (586), Arjun Singh Cheema (579) and Ujjawal Malik (575) produced a total of 1740 to finish at the top, while Iran and Korea claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively.
India’s #VarunTomar has won gold
— NRAI (@OfficialNRAI) January 8, 2024
🥇 & India’s 14th @Paris2024 quota place, winning the 10m Air Pistol Men at the #AsianOlympicQualification event in Jakarta. The 20-year old shot 239.6 in the final, leading an Indian 1-2 as Arjun Cheema came second. Brilliant!#IndianShooting pic.twitter.com/uIJ6M3jrIH
Varun and Arjun have also made it to the individual finals.
A total of 16 quota places for the Paris Olympics are available at the continental showpiece. The 10m air pistol events for men and women have four quotas on offer, with a maximum of three for the Indian shooters.
Esha Singh, Rhythm Sangwan, and Surbhi Rao then shoulder Indian hopes in the women's 10m air pistol, where India still has to win a Paris quota.
As many as 385 athletes from 26 countries will take aim at the Senayan Shooting Range in Jakarta for 256 medals (84 gold, 84 silver and 88 bronze medals), besides the Paris quotas.
India has already won 13 Olympic quota places in shooting across rifle, pistol and shotgun disciplines.
While all quota places in rifles have been secured, a total of three quotas have been won in pistols.