JAKARTA: Indian shooters Akhil Sheoran and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar won medals for India at the Asian Shooting Championships 2024 in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday. Akhil Sheoran won the gold medal in the final with a score of 460.2, while Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar finished second with 459.0 in the men's 50 m rifle event. Thai shooter Thongphaphum Vongsukdee won bronze with a score of 448.8.

After winning the top two spots in the championship, both players were given direct qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, India had already received its full allocation of two slots in the men's 50 m rifle 3P event for next year's Summer Games.

Swapnil Kusale received India's first men's 50 m rifle 3P quota at the 2022 World Championships in Cairo, while Sheoran earned the second at the 2023 World Championships in Baku.

Three Indians advanced to the finals of the men's 50 m rifle 3P event at the Jakarta competition, which serves as an Asian Olympic qualifier for rifle and pistol shooters. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar finished third in the qualifiers with 588 points, followed by Sheoran (586) and Swapnil Kusale (584) in sixth and ninth place, respectively. Kusale shot in the final but finished sixth.

India's Neeraj Kumar and Chain Singh both finished in the top five in the qualifications; however, they were only fighting for ranking points (RPO). Meanwhile, India won gold in the men's 50m rifle 3P team event, with Akhil Sheoran, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, and Swapnil Kusale scoring 1758 points. China won silver with 1744, while the South Korea took bronze with 1735 points.