Chinki Yadav clinches India's 11th shooting quota for Tokyo Olympics

PUNE: Seven years ago when Chinki Yadav first went to a shooting range, she didn’t know the difference between rifle and pistol. As a result, she ended up trying shotgun for a month.
On Friday, the Bhopal girl showed no signs of confusion and shot her career-best to clinch India’s 11th quota for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Chinki, 21, secured the berth in women’s 25m pistol category, despite not winning a medal in the Asian Shooting Championships in Doha.With Rahi Sarnobat having already qualified, India has now won maximum two quotas in the event.
Although Chinki has clinched a quota in the event, it will be difficult for the Bhopal girl to represent the country at Tokyo. Chinki’s quota has come in an event in which India already has two strong contenders in Manu Bhaker and Rahi. While Asian champion Rahi shoots only in 25m pistol event, Manu had clinched a quota in 10m air pistol event. She will be eligible to shoot in both the events at Tokyo.
It will be a big headache for the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) to take a call on the entry for women’s 25m pistol event. In case the federation decides to field Manu and Rahi, Chinki’s quota can be transferred to any other shooter — in an event where India has not won a berth.
Chinki, nonetheless, was excited after her performance. “I am really happy to have finally won a quota. I am also glad for making it to the final, as I had missed out the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro by one point,” Chinki told TOI.
She shot 588 to finish second in the qualification round. In the first five series, she scored 99, 97, 96, 99 and 97, but the last series of 100 was pivotal in putting her in top-8.
The quota got confirmed once Chinki made it to top-8, since there were four berths available in the event and four out of eight shooters had already won Tokyo tickets in previous events. In the final, Chinki couldn’t handle the pressure well and finished 6th with a score of 16.
Daughter of an electrician in Madhya Pradesh government's sports department in Bhopal, Chinki took up shooting when she was 14.
Rudrankksh wins gold
Other shooters in the fray, in the 10m Air Rifle Men Youth, Rudrankksh Patil, T.R.Srijay and Paarth Makhija won team gold with a combined score of 1871.0. Rudrankksh and Srijay won individual gold and silver with scores of 249 and 248.8 respectively in the final.