With Arjun’s narrow miss, India’s tryst with fourth-place at Olympics continues in Paris
The 25-year-old Arjun’s narrow miss in Paris has added another chapter to India’s history with fourth-place finishes at the Olympic Games.
Indian trap shooters put up a flop show as none of the six in fray could make it to the final and in the process failed to qualify for Paris Games at the ISSF Final Olympic Shotgun Qualification Championship in Doha, Qatar.
Vivaan Kapoor, Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Prithviraj Tondaiman in the men’s trap event managed to progress beyond the qualifying rounds.
The women’s trio of Manisha Keer, Neeru and Shreyasi Singh also failed to make the final of their event.
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The Doha meet was the final shotgun qualifying event for the Paris Olympics. The top two shooters in each individual event (maximum one per country) secured quota for the Games
In the men’s trap event, Prithviraj Tondaiman was the best-placed Indian in the qualification round, at 23rd, with a score of 119. Vivaan Kapoor, with 116, was 56th while Zoravar Singh Sandhu shot 114 to finish 82nd in a field of 140. Only the top six made the finals.
Manisha Keer, 37th with 111, was the top-placed Indian in the women’s trap qualifiers followed by Neeru, 55th with 107, and Shreyasi Singh, 56th with 106.
This was the last chance for Indian trap shooters to secure Olympic quotas.
Their failure in Doha means India will have one shooter each in the men’s and women’s trap events at the upcoming Summer Games.
Bhowneesh Mendiratta obtained a men’s trap quota from the 2022 World Championships while Rajeshwari Kumari secured one in women’s trap at the 2023 World Championships.
Each country can earn a maximum of 24 quotas in shooting for the Games, with eight available in rifle and as many in pistol and shotgun events.
Indians so far, have already secured their full allocation in rifle and pistol events and one each in the four shotgun events, accounting for 20 quotas in total.
This is the country ‘s best-ever quota haul in shooting at any edition of the Olympics, even better than 15 from Tokyo 2020.
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