India earned their sixth shooting quota for the Paris 2024 Olympics after the 21-year-old Sift Kaur Samra opened up the country’s spot in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions (R3P) event.
Last Monday (21 August), Sift Kaur Samra finished in the fifth position in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions at the ISSF World Championship 2023 in Baku (Azerbaijan). Although she missed out on a podium finish, she set up a spot for the country in the upcoming Summer Olympics because four out of eight finalists in the Baku event had already booked their places for the Paris 2024 Olympics in the past tournaments.
During the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions final event in Baku, Samra managed the eighth or last spot in the kneeling series with 150.9 (50.2, 51.0, 49.7). Although she moved up to the seventh rank in the prone series with an aggregated score of 305.3, she ended in a better position after the standing series, which made her aggregated score 429.1 in the final.
China won the gold and silver medals in the women’s 50m R3P event at the ISSF World Championship 2023 in Baku as Qiongyue Zhang (465.3) closely beat her native Han Jiayu (463.5).
In the meantime, American Sagen Maddalena claimed the bronze medal with an aggregated score of 451.9. Swiss Nina Christen finished in the fourth position with an aggregated score of 440.2.
India’s six shooting quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics (including the respective events)
Sift Kaur Samra (women’s 50m rifle 3 positions)
In the ongoing ISSF World Championship 2023 in Baku, India have already secured three shooting quotas for the next Summer Olympics. After Mehuli Ghosh and Akhil Sheoran, Samra became the other member of this list.
However, just like the other five Indian shooters, there is no guaranteed spot for Samra in the Paris 2024 Olympics as the National Olympic Committee (NOC) will take the ultimate decision to fulfill the shooting quotas for the Summer Olympics.
Who is Sift Kaur Samra?
Sift Kaur Samra is shining in her early days. Last March, during the Bhopal stage of the ISSF World Cup 2023, Samra secured a bronze medal for her country in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event.
Last year, Samra won a gold medal at the ISSF Junior Cup 2022 (women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions) in Suhl (Germany).
