Rhythm Sangwan Clinches 16th Olympic Shooting Quota in Shooting

Rhythm Sangwan secured a historic 16th Paris 2024 Olympics quota spot for India in Shooting by clinching bronze in the women’s 25m pistol category at the ongoing Asia Olympic Qualification Rifle/Pistol event. As the qualification world record holder, she delivered exceptional performance, firing two rapid-fire series of 100 early in the morning at the Senayan Shooting range, earning a top score of 588 to qualify for the final. In the final, she achieved 28 hits out of her first 35 targets, ultimately finishing behind two Koreans who were ineligible for quotas. This accomplishment earned the World Cup bronze medallist the first of the two available Paris quotas, while Chinese Taipei's Wu Chia Ying secured the other with a fifth-place finish, trailing a third Korean.

It also ensured India, would be sending their largest-ever Shooting squad to the Paris Games, overtaking the highest-ever 15-quota places won ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. "It was really tough to miss out specially after making two world championship finals. But that’s the sport and guess it was waiting to be a special one, a historic one. I am very happy, especially with the medals we have won and I want to thank my entire team for the support", the 20-year-old shooter said.

Rhythm began the day placed fifth after the first precision round and if there were any doubts on her final qualification, she erased all with near perfection in the second rapid-fire round. Her 298 out of 300 propelled her to 588, three clear of Yeji Kim, the first of three Koreans to make the top eight. Simranpreet shot 577 to miss out in 11th place. South Korea had already secured two quotas in the women’s 25m pistol from previous qualifying events. That meant that Rhythm would have to finish better than at least three of the four remaining finalists, discounting the three Koreans to ensure the quota.

The eighth series of five rapid-fire shots began with Rhythm finding it tough yet again in the initial stages lying between fifth and sixth with two Singaporeans, besides Wu giving her a run for her money. That changed with two consecutive hits of four in the fourth and fifth series, giving her a cushion over Wu and the Singaporeans, as Filipino Shayne Quiroz became the first to exit. The quota was confirmed after the sixth series, as Teh Xiu Hong became the second Singaporean to exit in succession. It probably boosted her confidence as she outgunned both Wu and Korean Minseo Kim to claim bronze behind Jin Yang, who won gold and Yeji Kim, who took silver.

India secured a silver in the women’s 25m pistol team event, maintaining its lead at the top of the table ahead of China with an impressive tally of eight gold, seven silver, and six bronze medals. The journey began in Baku in 2022 when Rudrankksh Patil and Swapnil Kusale secured the first two Paris quotas by clinching gold and finishing fourth in the men’s air rifle and men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P), respectively, at the world championships. The third quota came in 2022 when Bhowneesh Mendiratta claimed a quota in Men’s Trap by finishing fourth in the Shotgun worlds. Subsequently, India secured 10 quotas in 2023 across designated competitions, and the momentum continued into 2024 with three more quotas earned in this competition. Varun Tomar and Esha Singh had previously secured quota places with their gold-winning performances in the men’s and women’s air pistol events.