Road To Paris: Episode 4

Our first Qualifiers are here for Paris, with 3 Quota places earned in Shooting. There has been a slight lull in the overall action post the Commonwealth Games completion and the Asian Games sized hole in the sporting calendar. Here is a summary of the major events in the past couple of months

Quota Places Won

• 
  Shooting: Men’s Trap – Bhowneesh Mendiratta claimed the first Quota place for India at the World Shotgun championships. Good to see a comeback in Trap shooting for India.
• Shooting: Men’s 10m Air Rifle – Rudrankksh Patil secured a Quota Place by winning the Gold medal at World Rifle/Pistol Championships.
• Shooting: Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions – Swapnil Kusale secured a Quote place by finishing 4th at the World Rifle/Pistol Championships

There were a couple of near misses as well in the women’s section. But still a long way to go in the Qualifiers.

In other action

• Neeraj Chopra becomes the first Indian to win the Diamond League Champions Trophy – the man continues to be trailblazer!
• Wrestling: At the World Championships, India returned with 2 Bronze medals – Vinesh Phogat becoming the first female multiple medalist from India while Bajrang Punia claimed his 4th World Championships medal. Overall, the campaign was mixed, with some youngsters showing promise, while some favored ones getting knocked out early. Also a few of Commonwealth medalists were missing from the lineup. Begs the question – are we prioritizing an event like Commonwealth Games (with a better probability of medal) over World Championships (which are far more prestigious)
• Table Tennis: World Team Championships. Sharath Kamal was missing. Indian men upset the 2nd seeded Germans in the group stage but couldn’t make much headway in the knock-outs. Same was the story for the women’s team also.
• National Games have been held after a gap of 7 years!

Doping Menace: Two Tokyo Olympians have been given bans for doping - Shivpal Singh (Men’s Javelin Throw) suspended for 4 years and Kamalpreet Kaur (Women’s Discus Throw), banned for 3 years.

Qualification Summary: Sports: 1, Events 3, Entries:3, Athletes: 3

That’s it for this episode. The qualification action will be picking up in the coming weeks

Till next time!

Links: Road To Paris – Episode 3