Sanjeev Rajput claims Rio Olympics berth in 50m three-position rifle category

Rajput has become 12th Indian shooter to secure a quota place for the Rio Olympics.

New Delhi: Indian shooter Sanjeev Rajput on Tuesday claimed an Olympic quota place after finishing fourth in the men's 50m three-position rifle category at the Asian qualifiers at the Karni Singh Shooting Range here.

And with that Rajput has become the 12th Indian shooter to secure a quota place for the Rio Olympics.

Rajput made it happen on the concluding day of the Asia Olympic Qualifying Competition.

Earlier, Omkar Singh, in the men's 10m air pistol, Arti Singh Rao and Sania Sheikh in women's skeet, made it to their respective finals of the event but failed to qualify for the Athletics' pinnacle event, which starts from August 5.

“I have had a tough 2015 where I had to change my shooting jacket and gun three times which affected my performances. Also, the fact that after I left the Navy in 2014 it took me a while to adjust to the change in lifestyle.

“For this competition I had trained hard but the barrel extension of my gun started giving me problems in the last three days and I could not change it at this stage. This is why I was being inconsistent in the finals as I was finding it difficult to adjust otherwise I could have shot even better. I am hoping that my form starts improving more after this performance,” said Rajput after winning the quota place.