Rio de Janeiro [Brazil], April 13 : A world-class 52-strong field will only be the first challenge that India's women 10m air pistol shooters Palak, Surbhi Rao and Sainyam, will have to overcome in their quest for a Paris Olympic quota place at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Final Olympic Qualification Championship Rifle / Pistol in Rio De Janeiro on Saturday.
The second challenge will be if one or more of them make it to the top eight finals field, as they will have to come back the next day for the 24-shot match. This is a change from what has been the norm for Rifle/Pistol shooters worldwide, as both the qualification and final were held on the same day till now.
All ISSF Rifle/Pistol events till the Paris Games, as well as the Olympic Selection Trials back home will now be held in this format, given that is how the schedule of the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics in July has been drawn.
Foreign coach Munkhbayar Dorsjuren accompanying the squad said ahead of qualifications, "Our shooters have trained hard and are confident going into the competition tomorrow. It is a tough challenge but we are sure if we put our best foot forward, we will achieve our goal."
Some competitors who are likely to give a tough time to the Indian quest are the likes of Veronika Major (Hungary), Sandra Reitz (Germany), Yu Ai Wen (Chinese Taipei), Haniyeh Rostamiyan (Iran), Yulia Korostylova (Ukraine), Teh Xiu Hong (Singapore) and Tanyaporn Prucksakorn (Thailand) among others.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor