By winning a bronze medal in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championships 2023 in Changwon, the Republic of Korea, the 21-year-old Anish Bhanwala secured a pistol event quota for India for the Paris 2024 Olympics. It was India’s third pistol event quota confirmation for the next Summer Olympics.
On October 30, 2023, Anish Bhanwala won a bronze medal for India at the Asian Shooting Championships 2023 after finishing in third place in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event. He finished the final event with 28 points as he lost the shoot-off for a tied result.
South Korean Lee Gunhyeok won the gold medal (34 points) as he closely beat the Japanese Dai Yoshioka (33 points).
How did Anish Bhanwala secure the Indian quota in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event for the Paris 2024 Olympics?
While both Gunhyeok and Yoshioka had already secured their respective national quotas in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event for the Paris 2024 Olympics, the bronze medalist Anish comfortably secured India’s first quota in this event for the next Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024.
It was also India’s third pistol quota confirmation for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Earlier, at the Asian Shooting Championships 2023, Sarabjot Singh secured the Indian Paris 2024 quota in the men’s 10m air pistol event, and Manu Bhaker secured the Indian Summer Olympics 2024 quota in the women’s 25m pistol event.
However, only the National Olympic Committee will make the ultimate decisions about the national representatives in the shooting events for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Who is Anish Bhanwala?
The two-time ISSF Junior World Cup gold medalist, Anish Bhanwala, has already won two World Championships gold medals (one individual and one team) and one World Cup gold medal (mixed team) at the senior level.
At the Commonwealth Games 2018, Anish won a gold medal in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event.
Anish was also a member of the bronze-medalist Indian men’s team in the 25m rapid fire pistol event at the Asian Games 2022.
