Varun Tomar, Esha Singh bag Olympic quotas with 10m Air Pistol gold at Asian Qualifiers

Esha Singh and Varun Tomar asserted Indian supremacy by winning the Olympic quota with gold medals in men’s and women’s air pistol in the Asian shooting championship in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Monday.

Indian shooting took its tally to 15 Olympic quota places for the Paris Games. It was the second Olympic quota in men’s air pistol, and the first in women’s air pistol.

Esha, who had won four medals in the Asian Games, was in irrepressible form as she outclassed the field, winning the gold with a 6.8-point margin over Kishmala Talat of Pakistan.

Rhythm Sangwan won the bronze, while the third Indian, Surbhi Rao was sixth. The trio won the team gold.

Varun Tomar beat compatriot Arjun Singh Cheema by 2.3 points for the gold and the Olympic quota. He had earlier topped qualification with 586. Since a country can win only one Olympic quota in a championship, the second quota went to Davaakhuu Enkhtaivan of Mongolia, the bronze medallist.

The Indian men’s team also bagged the gold, 13 points ahead of Korea, even though the third shooter, Ujjawal Malik, placed 20th with 575.

India thus topped the medals table on the opening day with four gold, one silver and one bronze while China followed with a gold, a silver and two bronze medals.

A total of 16 quota places for the Paris Olympics are available at the continental showpiece.

As many as 385 athletes from 26 countries aim at the Senayan Shooting Range in Jakarta for 256 medals (84 gold, 84 silver and 88 bronze) besides the Paris quotas.