Rifle shooter Chain Singh earns India 7th Olympics quota place

Rifle shooter Chain Singh became the seventh Indian marksman to clinch an Olympic quota place after finishing eighth in the 50m Rifle 3 Position event of the ISSF World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan, on Friday.

A qualification score of 1174/1200 which enabled make the final secured India's seventh Olympic quota in shooting.

In the final, Chain finished eighth with a score of 403.7, but it was enough to fetch him the much sought after Olympic quota place after narrowly missing out on a place in the final in all the three preceding World Cups.

A delighted Chain Singh said, "It is my dream to win a medal for India at the Olympics. Today I am very happy because winning an Olympic quota place is the first step in that direction. There is still a lot of work ahead for me. I want to say a big Thank you to NRAI, the Army and Olympic Gold

Quest for giving me tremendous support."

The gold medal in the event went to China's Hui Zicheng (459.8), while the silver went to Austrian Alexander Schmirl (457.9). China's Zhu Qinan settled for the bronze medal with a score of 446.8.

A couple of days ago, Prakash Nanjappa bagged a quota place for India in the 50m air pistol event after finishing eighth.

Image: Rifle Shooter Chain Singh after clinching an Olympic quota berth on Friday

Photograph: Olympic Gold Quest/Facebook