Rajput wins Olympic shooting berth

Sanjeev Rajput became the seventh Indian shooter to win a berth for next year's Beijing Olympic Games despite finishing 11th in the men's 50m rifle 3 position event at the ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning, USA on Wednesday.

Although Rajput put up his best effort so far by firing 1170 out of 1200 (Prone 395, Standing 384, Kneeling 391), he failed to make the finals but was awarded the quota place because top ten finishers had already qualified for Olympics.

The 26-year-old marksman also set a new national record in the process. He shot his personal best score so far, his previous best being 1165 at the World Cup, China last year. "I am extremely happy to be able to win the Olympic quota for India with a personal best score so far," Rajput said after the match. "I could have easily managed two to three points more had I not been troubled by the winds during my last series in the kneeling position, two points more would have also ensured me a place in the finals," he said.

Rajput was a part of the bronze medal winning air rifle team in the Asian Games at Doha and had recently won four gold medals at the National Games at Guwahati. Gagan Narang, struggling with a knee injury, finished 38th with a score of 1154 (Prone 395, Standing 384, Kneeling 375) while another Indian in the fray, Imran Hassan Khan, was 46th at 1151 (Prone 388, Standing 380, Kneeling 383).

Narang, Abhinav Bindra, Anjali Bhagwat and Avneet Kaur Sidhu in rifle events and Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Manavjeet Singh in the double trap and trap shotgun events have already qualified for Olympics.