Beijing: Leading the final from beginning to end, Abhishek Verma secured India’s fifth Olympic quota place in shooting, winning the 10m air pistol gold medal at the ISSF World Cup here Saturday. Shooting in his maiden International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup final, the lawyer-turned-shooter led the field throughout the men’s 10m air pistol event to clinch the top spot with a total score of 242.7.
Russia’s Artem Chernousov took silver with a total of 240.4 points in the eight-man final. Korea’s Seungwoo Han finished with a bronze after shooting 220.0 in the final. Son of a sitting judge, Verma showcased his class in what was only his first ISSF World Cup final. The Indians have sealed five quota places for the Tokyo Olympics so far with young Saurabh Chaudhary clinching one in 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi earlier this year. With this, India has clinched both their quotas in this event. Incidentally, Verma made his World Cup debut in New Delhi but failed to qualify for the final at home.
