Mehuli Ghosh was in brilliant form as she won the Olympic quota in women’s air rifle along with an individual bronze medal in the World Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday.
Tilottama Sen was equally sharp in placing fourth, but with the new rule for Olympic qualification, one nation could get only one quota in a competition.
It was a commendable performance, especially by Mehuli as she topped the qualification with 634.5 in a field of 140 shooters, before clinching the individual bronze behind two Chinese shooters.
With Ramita Jindal as the third member, the Indian team won the gold ahead of China and Germany.
In men’s air rifle, the Indian shooters Divyansh Singh Panwar, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Hriday Hazarika were below par and finished 28th, 33rd and 68th respectively.
In skeet, Olympian Angad Vir Singh Bajwa shot 121 and was placed 20th in a field of 125 shooters. A score of 123 needed a long-drawn shoot-off for the last spot in the final. Anant Jeet Singh Naruka (120) was 44th while Gurjoat Khangura (115) slid to the 95th spot. India was 14th among 28 in team competition.
China was on top of the medals table with seven gold, three silver and two bronze. The USA climbed to the second spot with two gold and a silver. India was third with two gold and two bronze.
The results:
10m air rifle:
Men: 1. Viictor Lindgren (Swe) 251.3 (629.3); 2. Yang Haoran (Chn) 250.6 (633.9); 3. Frantisek Smetana (Cze) 227.5 (629.7); 28. Divyansh Singh Panwar 627.5; 33. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 627.3; 68. Hriday Hazarika 623.6.
Team: 1. China 1893.3 (WR); 2. Czech Republic 1884.3; 3. Croatia 1883.5; 10. India 1878.4.
Women: 1. Han Jayu (Chn) 251.4 (632.3); 2. Wang Zhillin (Chn) 250.2 (630.8); 3. Mehuli Ghosh 2298 (634.5); 4. Tilottama Sen 208.4 (631.3); 11. Ramita Jindal 630.1.
Team: 1. India (Mehuli, Tilottama, Ramita) 1895.9; 2. China 1893.7; 3. Germany 1887.5.
