India Secures Medals at ISSF World Championship 2026 but Misses Olympic Quotas
India's Medal Achievements at the ISSF World Championship
On Tuesday, India began its medal tally at the ISSF World Championship 2026, clinching one gold and two silver medals. However, the nation did not secure any quotas for the LA 2028 Olympics in the men's and women's 10m air rifle categories held in Doha, Qatar. The gold medal was won in the men's 50m pistol team event, while Ravinder Singh earned an individual silver in the same category. The women's team, consisting of Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, and Shambhavi Kshirsagar, contributed another silver to India's collection, as reported by Olympics.com.
Success in Men's 50m Pistol
The men's 50m pistol team, featuring Ravinder, Saurabh Chaudhary, and Amanpreet Singh, triumphed with a total score of 1659-24x. Ravinder led the team with a score of 559-11x, followed by Saurabh with 551-7x and Amanpreet with 549-6x. China secured the second position with 1648-26x, while the Republic of Korea took home the bronze with 1643-26x. Individually, Ravinder also earned silver, finishing just two points behind neutral athlete Anton Aristarkhov, who won gold with 561-9x. Romania's Luca Joldea claimed the bronze with 558-5x. Notably, the men's 50m pistol event is not included in the Olympic shooting program.
Highlights from the Women's 10m Air Rifle Event
In the women's 10m air rifle team event, India secured its second silver medal with a combined score of 1894.4 points. China took the gold with 1899.8 points, while Japan earned the bronze with 1892.6 points. Elavenil stood out among the Indian shooters, scoring 634.2 to qualify for the individual final, finishing third in the qualification round. Sonam and Shambhavi placed 19th and 32nd, respectively, with scores of 630.5 and 629.7.
Olympic Quota Missed
Elavenil was the only Indian to reach the individual final in the women's 10m air rifle but finished sixth with 167.3 points, thus missing the opportunity for an LA 2028 quota. South Korea's reigning Olympic champion, Ban Hyojin, won gold with 253.1 points, followed by China's Han Jiayu (252.2) and Wang Zifei (231.0). Han, a Paris 2024 Olympian and former world champion, secured one of the Olympic quota spots for China. According to qualification rules, a country can earn only one quota per event at a single ISSF World Championship, preventing China from claiming another through Wang's bronze. France's Oceanne Muller secured the third quota after finishing fourth with 209.5 points. A fourth-place finish would have sufficed for Elavenil to earn an Olympic quota for India.
Men's 10m Air Rifle Performance
India also did not qualify for the men's 10m air rifle final, which offered three LA 2028 quota spots. Parth Mane was the highest-placed Indian, finishing 16th with 630.3 points. Himanshu Dhillon and Paarth Makhija placed 41st and 61st, respectively, with scores of 628.1 and 625.2. The ISSF World Championship will run until November 14, with a total of 36 LA 2028 Olympic quota places available across 12 individual Olympic shooting events.