ISSF World Championships: Akhil Sheoran gets Paris 2024 Olympics quota after clinching bronze in rifle three position

28-year-old Akhil Sheoran, a veteran shooter, won the bronze medal in the 50m 3 positions event at the ISSF World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday and secured the country's fifth berth in the Paris Olympics 2024.

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Moreover, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Niraj Kumar also won the team gold medal at the ISSF World Championships. At the same time, the trio of Rhythm Sangwan, Esha Singh, and Manu Bhaker won the 25m gold medal.

"We have been working very hard for all these years for this. I could have pushed a little more and got the silver. But, to win a medal and an Olympic quota in the World Championship which comes once in four years, is very satisfying." Akhil said after clinching the bronze.

Meanwhile, Akhil shot 579, Aishwary 587, and Neeraj 584 in the elimination round. In the qualifying round, Akhil made a comeback with a score of 585 to finish sixth. After that, he made it to the ISSF World Championships finals. Aishwary was able to score 583 and Neeraj 577. Akhil did brilliantly in prone and scored 198 out of 200. In the final, Akhil shot 450 and finished third. Alexander Schmirl of Austria won the gold with 462.6. While Petr Nymbursky of the Czech Republic won the silver with 459.2.

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On the other hand, in 25m pistol, the Indian trio of Rhythm Sangwan, Esha Singh, and Manu Bhaker shot a score of 1744 to win the gold by defeating Chinese Taipei. Though Rhythm Sangwan reached the finals of the ISSF World Championships, she missed out on an Olympic quota by finishing eighth.

So far for India, Bhowneesh Mendiratta, Swapnil Kusale, Rudrankksh Patil, Mehli Ghosh, and Akhil Sheoran have won the Paris Olympic quotas. This is Akhil's second ISSF World Championships in the senior category after winning a medal at the 2012 Asian Championships.