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Rising shooter Sift Kaur Samra on Monday secured India's sixth quota place for the Paris Olympics 2024 by finishing fifth in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions event at the ISSF World Championships. The 21-year-old, who won gold in her favorite event at the World University Games in Chengdu, China earlier this month, shot 429.1 in the final.
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Sift was fifth in the qualification round with a score of 589. She scored 192 in 'Kneeling' followed by 199 and 198 in 'Prone' and 'Standing' respectively. Sift slipped to the eighth position after the 'kneeling' stage in the finals. She then did better in 'prone' and 'standing' to finish fifth.
Meanwhile, China's Qiongyue Zhang (465.3) won the gold while Han Jiayu (463.5) won the silver in the event. Sagen Maddalena of America finished third with a score of 451.9.
On the other hand, the Indian trio of Sift (589), Ashi Chouksey (590) and Manini Kaushik (582) shot a total of 1761 to finish fifth in the ISSF World Championships team event. India is third in the World Cup medal tally with four gold and three bronze medals. The top two spots are occupied by China and the US. This is the third Olympic quota for India in the current World Cup.
Earlier, Mehuli Ghosh (women's 10m air rifle) and 28-year-old Akhil Sheoran (50m rifle 3 positions) secured Olympic quotas for India. India has so far secured a total of six Olympic quotas. The list also includes Bhowneesh Mendiratta (men's trap), Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil (men's 10m air rifle) and Swapnil Kusale (men's 50m rifle 3 positions).
In the men's 25m rapid-fire pistol, Adarsh Singh and Anish Bhanwala placed second and seventh respectively in the individual event after the first stage of qualification. Adarsh shot 295, while Anish (293) is two points behind him. Vijayveer Sidhu, the third Indian to challenge in the event, was ranked 32nd with a score of 287 out of 300. Only the top six shooters in ISSF World Championships will reach the finals. The second rapid-fire stage of qualification and the final will be held on Tuesday.