By Vivek Prabhakar Singh, New Delhi [India]October 2 (ANI): Indian shooter Bhowneesh Mendiratta feels his job is “50 per cent done” after booking his country’s first quota in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I’m really happy. It’s an achievement for the country first and then for me. It’s an honor that I won the quota for the country. I have to prove my worth again and I think the job is only fifty percent done and still there are many things to do. I am training in a systematic manner to reach the peak of my career just in time for the Olympics. Let’s see what happens there,” Bhowneesh told ANI.
He said his dad has always been there for him since the beginning.
National team coach Vikram Chopra said the shooter shot brilliantly in his first outing where quotas were at stake.
“He has created the company. We are all very happy but we are still very happy. There are three more quotas to grab,” he added.
Bhowneesh Mendiratta claimed India’s first Paris Olympics quota place in shooting on debut at the ISSF Shotgun World Championships taking place in Osijek, Croatia. Mendiratta took 4th overall in the Men’s Trap final.
Mendiratta won his ranking round with a near-perfect score of 24/25, which allowed him to qualify for the medal match and ultimately a spot on the Paris 2024 team.
His only previous senior competition was in the Changwon, Korea, World Cup, where he took home a silver medal this year. This is his first World Cup debut for seniors. USA’s Derrick Scott Mein went through a nerve-wracking ranking match before winning men’s trap gold on Wednesday (September 28) at the 2022 ISSF World Championships Shotgun in Osijek, Croatia.
In her ranking match (semifinal round), Mein somehow missed her last three shots—but hit all five in the sudden-death tiebreak to secure her place in the final and a qualifying quota place at the Paris 2024 Olympics for the United States.
In the final, Chinese Taipei’s Yang Kun-pi won bronze, with Indian youngster Bhowneesh Mendiratta, competing in his first senior world championship, finishing fourth after being eliminated first in the final.
The UK, Chinese Taipei, India and the USA are therefore joining the Czech Republic and Sweden to book Paris 2024 quota places in the man trap. (ANI)