Abhishek Verma secured India’s fifth Olympic quota in shooting by winning a gold medal in the men 10m air pistol at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing.
The 29-year-old Abhishek completely dominated the final, as he led from start to finish, to win his first ever World Cup medal with a score of 242.7.
Earlier, the Asian Games bronze medallist Abhishek had qualified for his first ever World Cup final with the second best score of 585.
It was a big jump for Abhishek who had finished 24th in his World Cup debut in New Delhi in February.
Apart from winning the Asian Games bronze medal on his international debut last year, Abhishek had also made it to the final of the World Championship with 583, but had finished 8th and missed the Olympic quota then.
Former World No. 1 Shahzar Rizvi, who had won a gold and a silver medal in the World Cups last year, shot 576 to finish 36th.
The third Indian in the fray, World junior champion Arjun Singh Cheema shot 571 to finish 54th in a field of 97 shooters.
Russia Artem Chernousov won the silver with 240.4 while Korea Han Seungwoo took the bronze with 220.0. The other Olympic quota in the event was won by Davaakhuu Enkhtaivan of Mongolia.
Saurabh Chaudhary, who was fielded in the MQS category to boost the chances of another Olympic quota for India, registered 580.
Indian shooters have sealed five quotas for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics so far with young Saurabh Chaudhary clinching one in men’s 10m air pistol at the World Cup in New Delhi in February. With this India have clinched both their quotas in this event.
On Friday, 17-year-old teenager Divyansh Singh Panwar won India fourth Olympic quota by winning silver in men’s 10m air rifle. The other two quotas have been won by Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela in women’s 10m air rifle at last year World Championship.
The Results:
Men’s 10m Air Pistol: 1. Abhishek Verma (India) 242.7 (585); 2. Artem Chernousov (Russia) 240.4; 3. Han Seungwoo (Korea) 220.0; 36. Shahzar Rizvi (India) 576; 54. Arjun Singh Cheema (India) 571. MQS: Saurabh Chaudhary (India) 580.