Asian Games gold medallist Palak Gulia asserted her class by clinching the 10-metre women’s air pistol Olympic quota with a bronze medal in the Final Olympic qualification championship for rifle and pistol in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday.
In a lively final, in which seven of the eight shooters were eligible to win the two Olympic quotas on offer, the 18-year-old Palak climbed the competitive field after a slow start when she was joint-sixth with compatriot Sainyam.
Elmira Karapetyan of Armenia who already had an Olympic quota won the gold with a 0.2-point margin over the 16-year-old Kamonlak Saencha of Thailand who squandered a 1.7-point lead with a last shot of 8.6. The Thai had ensured the Olympic quota along with Palak, once Veronika Major of Hungary placed fourth.
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It was India’s second Olympic quota in the event following the one won by Esha Singh. Incidentally, India has swept all possible 16 Olympic quota places for the Paris Games, in rifle and pistol.
India had fielded only three shooters for the final Olympic qualification championship for rifle and pistol to secure the last Olympic quota. The championship has attracted 466 shooters from 76 countries for the 16 Olympic quota places on offer.
India has 20 Olympic quota places so far, and it is up to the shotgun shooters in trap and skeet, men and women, to secure the remaining four Olympic quota places, when the final Olympic qualification championship for shotgun is held in Doha, Qatar, from April 21 to 28.
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