No Olympic quota for Bhaker, Esha despite 25m pistol team gold at World C'ships

Manu Bhaker (PTI Photo/Atul Yadav)

NEW DELHI: India's Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh endured disappointment in the individual women's 25m pistol event at the ISSF World Championships, finishing outside the medal positions and missing out on Los Angeles 2028 Olympic quota places.Manu came close to a podium finish but had to settle for fourth place in the final, while Esha finished eighth. With three Olympic quota places available in the event, the Indian shooters missed an opportunity to secure their berths for the 2028 Games. Seven of the eight finalists were eligible to claim a quota place.The result came after a successful outing for the Indian contingent in the team event, where Manu, Esha and Divya Subbaraju clinched the women's 25m pistol gold medal with a combined score of 1,761 in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.

The Indian trio finished ahead of South Korea, whose team of Jiin Yang, Yejin Oh and Dajung Nam secured silver with 1,748 points. Vietnam claimed bronze with an aggregate score of 1,745.Esha spearheaded India's gold-medal effort with 590 points, including 292 in the Precision round and an impressive 298 in Rapid. Manu contributed 587 points (289 in Precision and 298 in Rapid), while Divya added 584 (289 in Precision and 295 in Rapid).

In the individual qualification round, Esha finished third, while Manu secured sixth place to book their spots in the final. However, neither could convert that opportunity into an individual medal or an Olympic quota.India have enjoyed a strong campaign at the World Championships, adding several medals across events. Niveditha Veloor Nair won bronze in the women's 25m standard pistol, while Jaypal Malviya claimed silver in the men's 10m air pistol.

The men's 50m pistol team of Ravinder Singh, Saurabh Chaudhary and Amanpreet Singh won gold, with Ravinder also securing individual silver. Meanwhile, Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Shambhavi Kshirsagar bagged silver in the women's 10m air rifle team event.