India’s Abhishek Verma shoots gold, seals Olympic quota

Indian shooter Abhishek Verma won the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol event at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Beijing on Saturday.

While winning the gold medal in only his second World Cup appearance, the hobby shooter-turned professional sealed a quota place for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Verma, 29, scored 585 points in qualification and 242.7 points in the final taking home the gold medal.

Meanwhile, Russia's Artem Chernousov scored 586 points in qualification and 240.4 points in the final winning silver while Korea's Seungwoo Han won bronze with 582 points in qualification and 220.0 points in the final.

He made his World Cup debut in New Delhi. The shooter however, failed to make the cut in the final at home. However, on Saturday, Abhishek shot a total of 585 points to qualify for the final at the fourth spot.

Verma made his India debut at the Asian Games last year, where he won the bronze medal. The 29-year-old hobby shooter had made it to the Indian team just three years after taking up the sport.