Disappointment for Sift Kaur Samra and Anjum Moudgil: Miss 50m Rifle 3 Positions Final at Paris 2024

Indian shooters Sift Kaur Samra and Anjum Moudgil failed to qualify for the women's 50m rifle 3 positions final at Paris 2024. Samra finished 31st with a score of 575-22x, while Moudgil ranked 18th with 584-26x. Only the top eight will feature in the final.

In a disappointing turn of events, India's Sift Kaur Samra and Anjum Moudgil did not make it to the women's 50m rifle 3 positions final at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The 22-year-old Samra, on her Olympic debut, managed a score of 575-22x, landing her in 31st place, just one position from the bottom. Moudgil, on the other hand, secured the 18th spot with a score of 584-26x. Only the top eight shooters from the qualification round will advance to the final.

Remarkably, USA's Sagen Maddalena and China's Zhang Qiongyue set an Olympic Qualification Record with a score of 593, according to Olympics.com. It's noteworthy that Samra recently clinched a gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 with a world record score of 469.6. She also triumphed in the 50m rifle 3 positions individual and team events at the World University Games last year.

Moudgil, 30, who previously participated in Tokyo 2020, also failed to reach the finals then. She had, however, claimed a silver medal in the 10m air rifle event at the 2018 World Championships. Samra concluded her qualification round in 31st place, while Moudgil finished 18th in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions.

On a brighter note, Swapnil Kusale won a bronze medal in the men's 50m rifle 3P event at the Paris Olympics, marking a historic first for India in this category. This brings India's tally to three bronze medals in shooting at the event. India's prior best shooting performance at the Olympics came in 2012, when Vijay Kumar won a silver in the men's 25m rapid-fire pistol event, and Gagan Narang secured a bronze in men's 10m air rifle.

India's journey in Olympic shooting began with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's silver in the men's double trap at the 2004 Athens Olympics, followed by Abhinav Bindra's historic gold in the men's 10m air rifle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the country's first-ever individual gold in any sport. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)