ISSF World Championships: Akhil Sheoran wins Bronze, secures quota in Paris Olympics

ISSF World Championships: India's Akhil Sheoran on Sunday clinched a Bronze medal in 50m rifle 3 positions at the ISSF World shooting championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Sheoran finished third in the eight-man final with a score of 450 to take the medal home. He also secured a quota in the Paris Olympics.

In the eight-man final, Alexander Schmirl from Australia won the gold with a 462.6 scoreline, while Petr Nymbursky from the Czech Republic took the silver with 459.2. Sheoran was dominant in the qualification too as he finished sixth with a 585 score to his name. However, other Indians Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Niraj Kumar failed to reach the final, scoring 583 and 577, respectively.

Sheoran secures the fifth quota for India

Sheoran has secured the fifth quota for India for the Paris Olympics. Bhowneesh Mendiratta, Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil, Swapnil Kusale and Mehuli Ghosh are the other four Indians with a quota booked for the Games. The ISSF championship is a qualification for the Paris Games. 48 quotas are on offer to the top four finishers (one from a nation) in each of the 12 Olympic individual shooting events.

Mehula bagged India's fourth quota in a 10m air rifle on Saturday. The 20-year-old Ghosh was in brilliant touch during the event and bagged a Bronze medal with a score of 229.8. Mehula was in fabulous touch during the qualification round. She topped a 140-shooter field as she scored 634.5 in qualification. She then scored 229.8 in the 8-woman final to take the Bronze home. Notably, the Gold medal went to China's Jiayu Han as she scored 251.4, whereas the Silver was won by Han's compatriot Zhilin Wang with a score of 250.2.