ISSF World Cup: Abhishek Verma Wins Gold In 10m Air Pistol, Secures Olympic Quota For India

Indian shooter Abhishek Verma on Saturday won the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup being held in Beijing. Abhishek Verma's brilliant performance in the Shooting World Cup Final also secured a fifth Olympic quota for India. Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela (10m air rifle women), Saurabh Choudhary and Divyansh Panwar had earlier secured India four Olympic spots. Abhishek Verma topped the charts in the final, finishing with a total score of 242.7. Russia's Artem Chernousov clinched the silver medal with a score of 240.4 while Korea's Han Seungwoo shot a score of 220.0 to take home the bronze medal.

Abhishek Verma had bagged the bronze medal in men's 10m Air Pistol shooting event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

The Indian shooter, who made it to the Indian team just three years after taking up the sport, dominated the final, leading from start to finish.

Teenage sensation Saurabh Chaudhary, who had already clinched an Olympic quota in the 10m air pistol event by winning gold in the Delhi World Cup Final, took part in the 10m Air Pistol MQS section to make way for other shooters like Abhishek Verma to take a shot at the Olympic quota.

In the qualification round, Abhishek Verma finished fourth with a score of 585 (19x). The 29-year-old was the only Indian to progress to the final with Shahzar Rizvi finished 32nd and Arjun Singh Cheema 54th. Their scores were 576 and 571, respectively.