Nine Pak shooters eligible for Olympics 2020 quota places

KARACHI: Nine Pakistani shooters have become eligible for quota places in Tokyo Olympics 2020. Minimum Qualification Score designated by International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) is the score that an athlete must have recorded at least once in the set timeframe in order to become eligible to take part in the Olympic Games.

According to details, Ghufran Adil achieved MQS in two events of Air Rifle and 50meter Rifle 3 positions. He scored 616.8 points in Air Rifle 60 and 1152 points in 50m Rifle 3 positions in Asian Games in Jakarta this year.

Zeeshan-ul-Farid achieved MQS in AR-60 and FR3X40 (50m Rifle 3 positions) events when he scored 614.2 points in AR-60 and 1144 points in FR3X40 event in a world cup in Changwon, South Korea, this year.

Nadira Raees achieved MQS when she scored 607.0 points in AR-60 and 1125 points in R3X40 event in Asian Games in Jakarta this year.In Rapid Fire Pistol event, Khalil Akhtar and Ghulam Bashir achieved MQS when they scored 579 points and 583 points, respectively, in the world cup in Changwon.

In Trap 125 event, Aamer Iqbal and Farrukh Nadeem achieved this feat when they scored 115 points and 117 points, respectively, in Asian Games.Usman Chand scored 122 points in Skeet 125 event in Asian Games and Minhal Sohail scored 614.7 points in AR-60 event in the world cup in Changwon.

National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) is banking on Usman, Khalil, and Bashir and has decided to send them to all the world cups and Asian championships scheduled in 2019. NRAP expects Usman, Bashir, and Khalil to win Olympic Quota for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Shooting is the third most important Olympic sport with 15 gold medals at stake. “We are sure that they would either win the quotas or be eligible for quota places through International Olympic Committee,” said Executive Vice President NRAP Javaid S Lodhi while talking to ‘The News’.

Next year, world cups are scheduled in India, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, China, South Korea, Germany, Finland, Brazil, and Peru. The only Asian championship is scheduled in Doha, Qatar, in November.

Usman, from Sialkot, has been the national champion for last four years in Skeet event. In the recent Asian Games, Usman scored 122 points out of 125 in the main qualification round of Skeet event, missing the Asian record by only one point.

He beat the Olympic bronze medallists of 2012 and 2016 Olympics there. Bashir, from Navy, scored 583 points out of 600 in Rapid Fire Pistol event in the World Shooting Championship held in South Korea from August 30 to September 15. He achieved 7th position in the world.

Khalil, from Army, scored 579 points out of 600 in the same event to claim 18th position in the world. NRAP has requested to Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) to allow duty-free import of shotgun for Usman and cartridges for preparing the shooters for 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The association has also asked for the import of 50,000 Skeet Shotgun Cartridges per year without custom duty, regulatory duty and other taxes for two years.