India's Maheshwari Chauhan secures 21st Paris Olympics 2024 quota in shooting, wins silver in Shotgun Qualifiers

This was India’s fifth quota in shotgun.

India’s shooting contingent for the 2024 Paris Olympics continues to swell as ace shooter Maheshwari Chauhan secured India’s 21st quota place for the upcoming Summer Games with a brilliant silver medal-winning performance in the women’s skeet event at the ISSF Final Olympic Shotgun Qualification Championship in Doha, Qatar.

It was a historic day for Indian shooting as Maheshwari became only the fifth Indian shotgun shooter to book an Olympic quota for Paris 2024, joining the likes of Bhowneesh Mendiratta (men’s trap), Rajeshwari Kumari (women’s trap), Raiza Dhillon (women’s skeet), and Anantjeet Singh Naruka (men’s skeet).

Quota Alert! 🚨India bags its 21st quota place for #Paris2024 as skeet Shooter Maheshwari Chauhan hits the mark at the Shotgun Qualifiers in Doha.This is also the 2nd Women's Skeet Quota.#Shooting #Doha #shotgun pic.twitter.com/uKZY974nKK

— Khel Now (@KhelNow) April 28, 2024

Maheshwari’s road to securing a quota place was nothing short of extraordinary. She set a new national record in the qualifiers, shooting a stellar 121/125 to finish fourth and secure her spot in the six-woman final round. In the nerve-wracking final, the Indian sharpshooter displayed remarkable composure, finding herself in a three-way tie for the gold medal position on multiple occasions.

Although she narrowly missed out on the gold after losing a tense shoot-off to Chile’s Francisca Crovetto Chadid, Maheshwari’s silver medal ensured she achieved her primary objective – an Olympic quota for India.

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During the men’s skeet qualifying rounds, all three Indian participants were unable to advance. Mairaj Ahmad Khan, who competed in the Tokyo Olympics, ranked highest among the Indians, securing the 75th spot. Angadvir Singh Bajwa, who has previously won the Asian championship, came in at 77th, followed by Sheeraj Sheikh in 79th place. The finals were only open to the top six qualifiers.

With Maheshwari’s quota, India can now field the full allocation of two shooters in the women’s skeet event at the Paris Games. This takes India’s total quota count in shooting for the 2024 Olympics to an impressive 21.

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