Gulfam to compete in ISSF President’s Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan’s top shooter Gulfam Joseph’s good show at Tokyo Olympics paid him well as he not only broke into the top 12 athletes of the world but also got entry into the 2021 ISSF President’s Cup to be held later this year.

He will be the only shooter from Pakistan in the prestigious event that is likely to be held in October. The dates of the event will be announced soon.

The world’s top 12 athletes in Shotgun, Rifle and Pistol Olympic events according to the 2021 World Ranking after the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have been invited to participate in the President’s Cup.

The good performance of Pakistan’s three shooters in Tokyo Olympics has helped them better their international rankings.

Gulfam is ranked 11th in the 10-metre Air Pistol category. Ghulam Mustafa Bashir and Khalil Akhtar are ranked 14th and 16th, respectively, in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event.

International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) has announced that athletes will compete in Individual and Mixed Team events in the President’s Cup.

The total prize fund for the 2021 President’s Cup is $859,200 and the winner of the individual event will receive $15,000. The runner-up will get $12,000.

The prize money is $10,000 for the third place, and $7000 for the fourth place. The winners of fifth and sixth places will get $5500 each.

The accommodation and travel expenses of athletes will be covered by the ISSF and the individual winners will receive the Golden Target, the Best Athlete of the Year award.

The 12 athletes who have got entry into the 10m Air Pistol event are Javad Foroughi from Iran, Damir Mikec from Serbia, Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma from India, Reitz Christian from Germany, Pang Wei and Zhang Bowen from China, Artem Chernousov and Vadim Mukhametyanov from Russia, Pavlo Korostylov from Ukraine, Nickolaus Mowrer from the USA, and Gulfam Joseph from Pakistan.

“The invitations and order of the competition will be sent to the participants within two weeks,” stated ISSF.