Asian Shooting Championship 2023:Anish Bhanwala secures Olympic quota in men's 25m rapid fire pistol, wins bronze

Indian shooting contingent has won five quotas so far in the competition.

India's Anish Bhanwala secured bronze medal in 25m men's rapid fire pistol at the ongoing Asian Shooting Championship 2023 in Changwon, South Korea. The youngster by the virtue of reaching the final assured India of a Paris Olympic quota in the event as all the shooters who reached the final had already won a quota before. With this the Indian shooting contingent has won 12 quotas overall and five at the Asian Shooting Championship 2023.

The other Indian in the fray, Bhavesh Shekhawat finished sixth in the qualification stage. However he did not participate in the final as he was entered via RPO. By scoring 588, Anish Bhawala finished third behind two Chinese shooters, Wang Xinjie and Li Yuehong.

The 21-year-old had a bright start to the final and had 24 out of the 30 shots on target. He continued with the good form in the subsequent series - 7th - registering four valid shot. This helped him stay joint in the 2nd spot alongside Korea's Dai Yoshioka. With both shooter tied at the same scores, the elimination was set to be done through the shoot off.

Anish could score only one green shot out of the five attempts with the Korean securing four valid shots. After a solid start, the Indian failed to hold on to the momentum but finished with his maiden Asian Championship medal. On the other hand, the men's trap final is scheduled to feature Zoravar Singh Sandhu who finished second in the qualification stage.

He lost the top spot to China's Qi Yijng in the shoot offs. Asian Games 2023 medalists Prithviraj Tondaiman and Kynan Chenai finished 15th and 16th respectively.