Usman disappointed at not getting Rio place

KARACHI: Pakistan’s promising skeet shooter Usman Chand from Sialkot is disappointed at not being given a quota place for Rio Olympics.

“I was expecting to get a quota place for Rio as I fulfilled the criterion of National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP),” said Usman while talking to ‘The News’.

Usman, who won bronze medal in skeet in national shooting championship in Karachi, added that he had worked hard and spent millions of rupees on participation in international events and personal training.

“I scored 121 in skeet in World Cup at Gabala last year to become one of the 17 shooters who achieved Minimum Qualifying Score (MQS) for Pakistan,” said Usman.

“I was spending over 20 thousand rupees per day (for using 200 rounds) on my training for Olympics but all went in vain,” said Usman.

He said he had been training for the last four months and entered his names in two world cups in Italy and Azerbaijan to get practice for Rio. “Now I have decided to play at least one event, so I am leaving on June 5 to play a world cup in San Marino from Jun 1,” said Usman.

He congratulated Ghulam Mustafa Bashir and Minhal Suhail for getting a chance to represent Pakistan at Rio.

Usman, ranked 32nd in the world and 11th in Asia, said he was upbeat for winning a quota for the next Olympics. “I will rely on myself and do my best to win a quota place at the next Olympics. I will not wait for wild cards and other allocations from International Olympic Committee (IOC),” said Usman.

Usman got recognition when he won gold medals in skeet, trap, and double trap categories at National Games sometime back. “I have left trap and double trap. I am focusing on skeet only now. This is a very expensive sport and I cannot spend too much money on different events at the same time,” said Usman.