Nancy Mandhotra prevails in top Indian field to clinch 10m air rifle gold at Asian Olympic Shooting Qualifier

Teenager Nancy Mandhotra overcame stiff competition from compatriot Elavenil Valkarivan to win the women’s 10m air rifle gold medal at the Asian Olympic Qualifier in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The competition showed the depth of talent India has in the event with Mehuli Ghosh, who had already bagged a quota place for the Paris Olympics, finishing fourth. Tilottama Sen, 15, has also clinched a spot for India at the Games to be held in the French capital later this year.

Kurukshetra’s 19-year-old Mandhotra, who had won a bronze at the ISSF World Cup in Baku last year, began the final with four of her first five shots in excess of 10.5 and was placed second behind Valarivan after the first series.

Gold🥇 Silver🥈! Incredible double podium finish yet again as Nancy (right) & @elavalarivan finish 1-2 in women’s air rifle at the #AsianOlympicQualification in Jakarta 🇮🇩 . Stunning shooting!🔥🔥🇮🇳🇮🇳#IndianShooting pic.twitter.com/btKfe6CzB8

— NRAI (@OfficialNRAI) January 10, 2024

The second series of five saw the Haryana youngster climbing to the top with two shots of 10.9. The elimination series would see Mandhotra shooting strongly but China’s Shen Yufan ran her close. At one point, both Shen and Mandhotra were tied at 210.7 with Valarivan only 0.2 point behind with all three confirmed to win medals.

It was here that the Chinese shot a 10.0 on her 22nd shot to bow out. Mandhotra would then edge out Valarivan with a difference of 0.1 point after the 24th and final shot to win the gold.

“The competition was stiff but I wanted the gold. Our team dominated and it really feels like a success for each one of us here,” Mandhotra told The Indian Express.

“The competition was stiff but I wanted the gold. Our team dominated and it really feels like a success for each one of us here,” Mandhotra told The Indian Express.

Each one of the five Indian shooters in qualification boasted of having an ISSF World Championship or World Cup medal under their belt. Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal had shot the second-best score of 633.6 competing in RPO (Ranking Points Only) category behind Valarivan’s 633.8 with Sen (RPO), Mandhotra and Ghosh shooting scores of 632.8, 632.4 and 631 respectively. Among the top eight shooters in qualification, the top four shooters were Indian with Ghosh in sixth place resulting in Mandhotra, Valarivan and Ghosh advancing to the final from the 62-shooter field.

None of the Indian shooters were eligible for a Paris Olympics quota in Jakarta but national coach Suma Shirur is delighted with the strong batch. “Each one of them has a world cup or world championship medal and the fact that two of them were able to bag the quota and not depend on the Asian qualifiers speaks of their confidence. They see the competition among themselves as motivation. Such high scores in qualification here means we are on the right path,” says Shirur.

A stellar performance by 🇮🇳 in the 10m Air Rifle Women’s Final at #AsianOlympicQualification in Jakarta!

Congratulations to our champion shooters:

🥇 Nancy clinches the gold!
🥈 Elavenil secures a well-deserved silver!

Outstanding performances showcasing Indian prowess on… pic.twitter.com/pY1svjmoTM

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) January 10, 2024

The five shooters know that only two of them can catch the flight to Paris. Valarivan, 24, who has gold medals in the World Cup Final and World Cup in her CV, wants to make amends for her 12th-place finish in Tokyo. Ghosh is a one-time World Championship and World Cup bronze medallist while Jindal is a two-time world cup finalist apart from climbing the podium at last year’s Asian Games. Sen had bagged the Paris Olympic quota for India with a silver medal at the Asian Championships while Ghosh had won the quota with a bronze medal at the ISSF World Championships last year.

With the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) coming up with an amended selection policy for the Paris Olympics, the shooters will be eying the four trials in May. Ghosh and Sen will automatically qualify for the trials, but there will be other worthy contenders as well. Sen and Ghosh will gain a slight weightage for bagging the quota spots while Mandhotra and Valarivan, if they qualify for the trials, too would see one point added to their ranking scores since they were in quota position in Jakarta but not eligible due to India bagging two quotas earlier.

“Both Tilottama and Nancy are young but have been very open to whatever the coaches have charted for them. Ramita too has been in fine form. Mehuli won the bronze in the World championship in a competitive field and that gave her a lot of confidence. Elavenil has been one of the most experienced shooters in the lot. Coming here, we worked on some technical aspects in her shooting apart from reinforcing some minor things,” says Shirur.

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