Rhythm Sangwan bags India's 16th quota place in shooting for Paris Olympics

Jakarta: Rhythm Sangwan became the 16th Indian shooter to win a Paris Olympic quota place with a bronze medal in the 25m sports pistol event at the Asia Qualifiers here on Thursday.

With Rhythm's qualification, India secured its highest-ever number of quota places for the July-August Games, with the previous best being the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where the country had sent 15 shooters.

This is the third Olympic quota place for India here after Esha Singh and Varun Tomar bagged the 10m air pistol women's and men's spots on Monday.

The 20-year-old Rhythm, who hails from Haryana and was a part of the team that won the 25m sports pistol gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year along with Esha and Manu Bhaker, shot 28 in the final to settle for bronze.

But her third-position finish was enough to fetch a Paris quota for the country.

China's Yang Jiin clinched the gold with a score of 41, while Korea's Kim Yeji was second with 32 points.

This is Rhythm's second bronze medal in the ongoing Asian Olympic Qualifiers after she finished third in the 10m air pistol event on Monday with Esha clinching gold.

However, an Olympic quota place had eluded her on Monday after Pakistan's Kishmala Talat had pipped her to bag the silver medal.