Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar clinches gold at the Asian Shooting Championships 2023 but misses out on a Paris Olympic berth

In an exhilarating showcase of precision and skill, 21-year-old Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar bagged the gold medal in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions individual final at the Asian Shooting Championships 2023, held in Changwon, Korea. This remarkable victory is a testament to Aishwary's incredible talent and rise in the Indian shooting circuit.

In the qualification round, it was China's Du Linshu who topped the standings with a remarkable score of 597, followed by Japan's Naoya Okada with 595 and Iran's Pourya Norouziyan with 593. Aishwary secured the fifth position with a score of 591, a performance that confirmed his place in the final.

It was in the final showdown that Aishwary truly shone, amassing a score of 463.5 to clinch the coveted gold medal. The silver and bronze medals went to China's Tian Jiaming and Du Linshu, who achieved final scores of 462.7 and 450.3, respectively.

India's Akhil Sheoran narrowly missed out on a spot in the final, finishing ninth in the qualification round with a score of 587. Swapnil Kusale, too, put up a commendable performance, securing the 11th position with a score of 586.

Before Aishwary's individual triumph, the Indian team of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Akhil Sheoran, and Swapnil Kusale had already made their mark by securing a silver medal in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions team event. Their combined score of 1764 placed them behind China, who secured the gold with a total score of 1777.

Aishwary misses out on Paris Olympic berth

One of the significant outcomes of this competition was the allocation of Paris Olympic quotas. Aishwary's victory in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions individual final would have ensured that he secured a quota for the Olympics, but India has already secured the two available quotas for the country in this event, courtesy of Swapnil Kusale and Akhil Sheoran.

Swapnil secured his berth at the World Championships in Cairo last year, while Akhil did the same at this year’s World Championships in Baku.

China's Tian Jiaming, who took the silver, and Kazakhstan's Konstantin Malinovskiy, who secured fifth place, took the Olympic quotas for theMen's 50m Rifle 3 Positions individual event from the championships in Korea.

Despite missing out, Aishwary has a lot to celebrate as the young shooter has had a fantastic last couple of months in terms of performance. Before his gold medal triumph in Korea, he secured the coveted gold medal and broke the world record at the Asian Games in the men’s 10m air rifle team. He also won the bronze medal in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event.