The 20-year-old spirited shooter Varun Tomar has become the 14th and the latest Indian to earn a ticket to the Paris Olympics.
The Indian bandwagon of shooting continues to shine after the Asian Games in Hangzhou. Recently, another milestone was added to the successful chapter that our shooters are scripting. 20-year-old spirited shooter Varun Tomer became the 14th and the latest Indian to earn a ticket to the Paris Olympics. Along with the prized ticket to the Paris Olympics, Varun won gold in the 10 m individual air pistol at the Asian Qualifiers.
The 20-year-old Tomar shot 239.6 in the men’s 10m air pistol final to claim the top position, while Arjun Cheema won the silver medal with a score of 237.3. Mongolia’s Davaakhuu Enkhtaivan (217.2) won the bronze medal.
The final turned out to be a gruelling and closed one between two Indian shooters, Varun Tomar and Arjun Singh Cheema. However, it was Tomar who had the last laugh in such a close final. Subsequently, Cheema bagged the silver medal. The top 2 shooters, i.e. both Varun and Arjun were eligible for the prized tickets to Paris. However, Sarabjot Singh had already secured a ticket last year after the Asian shooting championships. Naturally, according to the rules which allow a country a maximum of two quotas in each category, only one was eligible for the quota.
However, a quota place does not automatically guarantee a shooter a place in the team for the Olympics. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), has put in a multi-faceted and several rounds of selection process. This involves multiple trials to ensure that only in-form shooters travel to the Olympics. Tomar’s quota means India will likely send the biggest-ever shooting contingent for the Olympics. India has currently bagged 14 spots so far, out of which 8 have come in rifle shooting, four in pistol and 2 in shotgun. A country can have a maximum of 24 spots which is evenly distributed of 8 spots across three event categories.
Varun’s swashbuckling performance was not the only highlight of the day. On the other hand in the team event Varun Tomar (586), Arjun Singh Cheema (579) and Ujjawal Malik (575) added a cumulative score of 1740 points which catapulted the Indian team to the top. While Iran and Korea claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively.
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