Pak shooters to compete in five events at Paris 2024

KARACHI: Pakistan’s shooters will compete in five events at Paris Olympics 2024 as Kishmala Talat will also get to play 25m Sports Pistol event.

“International Olympic Committee has this rule that if any athlete wins an Olympic quota place h/she can also play any inter-related event at Olympics,” said Secretary National Rifle Association of Pakistan Razi Ahmed Khan while talking to ‘The News’. He added that Kishmala will feature in the individual category of 10m Air Pistol event in Paris Olympics as she won a quota place for that event.

“She will also feature in the mixed category of the said event with Gulfam Joseph while she has been allowed by IOC to feature in 25m Sports Pistol event as well,” said Razi. He added that Gulfam Joseph and Ghulam Mustafa Bashir will also participate in 10m Air Pistol and Rapid Fire Pistol events, respectively, at Paris Olympics.

“Gulfam does not play any other event besides 10 Air Pistol so he will not get to play any other inter-related event at Olympics. G M Bashir also plays Center Fire Pistol event but that is not Olympic event so he too will play only RFP at Paris 2024,” reasoned Razi.

Meanwhile, G M Bashir told ‘The News’ that he has learnt a lot from the Russian coach NRAP hired for an Asian Shooting Federation camp recently at PN Shooting Ranges here which was sponsored by Kuwait. “I have learnt different new things and am quite sure that they will help me in the events I am going to play this year before Olympics,” said Bashir. Bashir played only one event last year and that was a World Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he could not perform well.