Tejaswini Sawant clinches 12th Olympic quota for India in shooting

Image Credit: SAI/Twitter

Indian shooter Tejaswini Sawant qualified for the next year's Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games after booking her place in the summit showdown of the women's 50m rifle 3 positions event at the ongoing 14th Asian Championships at the Lusail Shooting Complex in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.

The 39-year-old Indian shooter shot a score of 1,171 points to finish fifth in the qualification round of the event and secure 12th Olympic quota for India in shooting. 

However, Tejaswini missed out on clinching an individual medal at the 14th Asian Championships after she made a fourth-place finish in the final with a score of 435.8. 

China's Shi Mengyao, who also made a top place finish in the qualification round, bagged a gold medal with a final score of 457.9. Meanwhile, Mongolia's Yesugen Oyunbat (457 points) and Japan's Shiori Hirata (445.9 points) settled for silver and bronze, respectively. 

Notably, Tejaswini-- who is the first Indian woman shooter to bag gold at the World Championships with a world-record equalling score in the 50 m rifle prone event--will make her first appearance in the Olympics if she gets selected in the Indian squad. 

On Friday, Indian shooter Chinki Yadav sealed the country`s 11th Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics quota after making it to the final of the Women`s 25m Pistol in the ongoing championship.

Chinki finished at the second position in the qualification round with a score of 588 to secure a quota for next year's Olympics. However, she eventually finished at the sixth place in what was her first senior international final.