JAKARTA: Pakistan’s Kishmala Talat shot her way to next year’s Olympic Games in Paris when she secured a silver medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event of the Asian Shooting Championship on Monday.

Kishmala, who won bronze at last year’s Asian Games, did just enough to qualify for the final before coming good with a score of 236.3 to finish second behind India’s Esha Singh (243.1). Another Indian Sngwan Rhythm clinched bronze with 214.5.

The top two shooters in each category were to secure Paris quotas for their respective countries at the Championships, which are doubling up as Olympic qualifiers.

The 21-year-old Kishmala, who also won silver at the 2019 South Asian Games, becomes the first female shooter from the country to qualify for the Paris Games and the third overall after Gulfam Joseph and G. M. Bashir.

Having posted 575 in qualifying, Kishmala just managed to squeeze through to the final.

Kishmala, though, started strong in the final, logging a 52.4 for her first five shots to take the lead. By the next five, however, Esha had taken over with 100.4 to Kishmala’s 100.1.

Kishmala slipped to third after the 20th round, narrowly behind Rhythm, only to haul herself back into second place with her next two shots of 10.4 and 10.0 but Esha had gone too far ahead by then.

The quota for Kismala also makes her eligible to compete in 25m sports pistol at the Olympics if she is selected by the national federation for both events at the quadrennial showpiece.

Kishmala was among 12 athletes from the country who received the International Olympic Committee Scholarship in 2022, allowing them to prepare for the Paris Games.

Pakistan’s javelin star Arshad Nadeem was the first from the country to book a spot in Paris after finishing with a silver medal at last year’s World Athletics Championships.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2024