Pakistan shooter Kashmala Talat qualifies for Paris Olympics

JAKARTA (Monitoring Desk): Pakistani shooter Kishmala Talat on Monday qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics after bagging a silver medal at the Asian Shooting Championship.

Talat ranked second in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol event with a remarkable score of 236.6 points at the Asian Shooting Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia.

India’s Esha Singh clinched gold with 243.1 points, while her teammate Rhythm Sangwan claimed bronze with 214.5 points.

Talat, 21, is now the third Pakistani shooter to qualify for the Paris Olympics, after Gulfam Joseph and G.M. Bashir, and the first female.

She had clinched a bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol event at last year’s Asian Games as well, winning Pakistan’s only medal alongside a silver in team squash and a bronze in kabaddi. In 2019, Talat bagged silver at the South Asian Games.

Talat was among 12 outstanding Pakistani athletes to receive the prestigious IOC scholarship in 2022 in preparation for the Paris Olympics.

Javelin star Arshad Nadeem was one of the first Pakistani athletes to qualify for this year’s Olympics after clinching silver at the World Athletic Championships in Budapest last August, behind India’s Neeraj Chopra.

The 27-year-old hopes to repeat a podium finish with Chopra at the Olympics, as the duo have developed a friendly rivalry over the years.

Nadeem became a national icon after winning gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with a monstrous 90.18-meter throw.