ISSF World Championships 2023: Rajeshwari Kumari bags India’s seventh Paris 2024 Olympics quota in shooting

Baku [Azerbaijan], August 24 : Rajeshwari Kumari finished fifth in the women's trap final in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday, securing the seventh shooting spot for India in the Paris 2024 Olympics at the ISSF World Championship 2023.

The ISSF World Championship in 2023 serves as a qualifying event for the Olympics in Paris in 2024. The best four finishers (one from each country) in each of the 12 Olympic individual shooting events received a seat on their national teams, giving a total of 48 Olympic quotas up for grabs, as per Olympics.com. 

Jessica Rossi, the eventual silver medalist in Baku and the Olympic champion from London 2012, already secured an Olympic quota for Italy, therefore Rajeshwari Kumari was able to secure the quota for India by placing fifth in the medal round. Additionally, it was Rajeshwari Kumari's best finish at the shooting world championships at the age of 31.

In the championship, Rajeshwari Kumari made 19 of her 30 attempts on goal. Lin Yi Chun of the Chinese Taipei won the gold medal with a score of 40/50, beating off Jessica Rossi for second place. With a score of 28/40, German Kathrin Murche won bronze.

Rajeshwari Kumari finished third in the qualifying round out of a field of 75 after recording 120 points from her five sets. Manisha Keer of India placed 23rd with a score of 115, and Preeti Rajah finished in 58th with a score of 109. With a combined score of 344, the Indian three came in fifth place overall.

Rajeshwari Kumari won India's first spot in the women's trap event while also earning India's seventh shooting quota for Paris 2024. A nation may only fill up to two quotas for any given competition.

Athletes' participation in the Paris Games depends on their National Olympic Committees (NOC) choosing them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024. NOCs have sole discretion over the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games.

At the Baku competition previously, Indian athletes Sift Kaur Samra (women's 50m rifle, 3 spots), Akhil Sheoran (men's 50m rifle, 3 positions), and Mehuli Ghosh (women's 10m air rifle) all won Olympic quotas for their country.

At the 2022 ISSF World Championships, Bhowneesh Mendiratta (men's trap), Rudrankksh Balasaheb Rao (men's 10m air rifle), and Swapnil Kusale (men's 50m rifle 3 positions) all won Olympics quotas for India.

With a combined score of 1718 earlier in the day, the Indian men's 25m centre fire pistol team of Rajendra Bagul, Akshay Jain, and Gaurav Chaudhary won a bronze medal.

In the individual category, Rajendra Bagul, who finished 12th out of 38 competitors with a score of 575, represented India the best. Gaurav Chaudhary finished 21st with a score of 570, and Akshay Jain scored 573 to place 17th.

India has so far taken home 10 medals from the ISSF World Championships in Baku, including five gold and five bronze.

Although the qualifying competitions for the Paris 2024 Olympics in Baku came to an end on Thursday, shooting competitions will go on until August 31.

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