Sift Kaur Samra wins Olympic quota with fifth place finish in 50m rifle 3 positions

Sift shot a 10.3 in her final standing shot, but it wasn’t enough to save her from elimination.

FILE PHOTO: Sift Kaur Samra during the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Bhopal earlier this year. | Photo Credit: A. M. FARUQUI/The Hindu

Sift Kaur Samra became the sixth Indian shooter to win a quota ahead of the Paris Olympics after she finished fifth in women’s 50m rifle 3 positions at the ongoing Baku World Championships.

Coming after the efforts of Mehuli Ghosh and Akhil Sheoran, it was another emphatic statement from the Indian camp about the strength of the rifle shooters. This is now India’s fifth quota in a rifle event, with one having come from shotgun earlier.

Sift shot a 10.3 in her final standing shot, but it wasn’t enough to save her from elimination.

Sift, having scored 589, had also finished fifth in qualification. The 21-year-old registered 192 in Kneeling, 199 in Prone, and 198 in Standing.

Ahead of Standing (Elimination) in the final, it had seemed unlikely that Sift would escape the first elimination. But a series of high-10s in the last position ensured she finished ahead of Korea’s Lee Eunseo, Norwegian shooter Jenny Stene, and Natalia Kochanska of Poland.

Sift in partnership with Ashi Chouksey and Manini Kaushik missed the team bronze by six points.

India is third on the medal table with four golds and three bronze. China is on top with eight gold, five silver, and three bronze medals. USA is in the second spot with four golds, a silver and a bronze.

The results:

50m rifle 3-position: Women: 1. Zhang Quiongyue (Chn) 455.3 (590); 2. Han Jiayu (Chn) 463.5 (588); 3. Sagen Maddalena (USA) 451.9 (587); 5. Sift Kaur Samra 429.1 (589); 29. Ashi Chouksey 582; 40. Manini Kaushik 580.

Team: 1. USA 1774 (WR); 2. China 1773; 3. Norway 1767; 5. India 1761.