Sift Kaur Samra finishes fifth in Women’s 50 Rifle 3 Positions at Baku Shooting Worlds, wins India’s sixth Paris quota in Shooting

Sift Kaur Samra finishes fifth in Women’s 50 Rifle 3 Positions at Baku Shooting Worlds, wins India’s sixth Paris quota in Shooting

Sift Kaur Samra won India her sixth Paris 2024 Olympic quota place, finishing fifth in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship All Events in Baku, Azerbaijan. Taking aim at the Baku Shooting Centre early on Monday, Sift won the quota after she qualified for the final with a national record score of 589, which she shot twice on the day. She however missed a coveted World Championship medal despite heroic Shooting. It was yet another China 1-2 in Women’s 3P, with Zhang Qiongyue winning gold with a-finals score of 465.3 and compatriot Han Jiayu winning silver with 463.5. American Sagen Maddalena won bronze while Sift, finished with a score of 429.1.

Sift said after the match, “I am feeling so excited about winning the quota and it was really a fun match for me. The experience was really great, because my Kneeling position was not that good in qualification but my Standing was very good. I am proud of my Standing position today. It means a lot for me and the country as it’s the first 50m quota among women.”

India now have won three Paris quotas at the Baku Worlds with Mehuli Ghosh in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle and Akhil Sheoran in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions winning quotas and world championship bronze medals in the previous days. Indian Shooting now has six quotas overall for the Paris games.

India also find themselves third on the medal tally with four gold and three bronze medals behind powerhouses China and the USA. A total of 24 of the 101 participating nations have medalled so far.