News / Sports

Iran’s shooter Khedmati wins gold at Asia Olympic qualifiers

Saturday, 30 January 2016 1:29 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 30 January 2016 1:29 PM ]

Iranian female sports shooter Najmeh Khedmati (file photo)

Iranian female sports shooter Najmeh Khedmati has put on an awe-inspiring display of skills at the 2016 Asian Olympic Shooting Qualifying Tournament in India, and managed to snatch a gold medal.

On Friday, the 19-year-old 2014 Asian Games gold medalist had little difficulty in proving her class in the final of women's 10m air rifle at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in the Indian capital city of New Delhi, where eight shooters were eligible to fight, and recorded an impressive score of 205.9 points.

Her Indian opponent Ayonika Paul managed to level the score, forcing a tie-breaking shoot-off for the top podium.

Khedmati shot 10.1 in the shoot-off to claim the gold medal, while the Indian shooter marked 9.9 to receive the silver.

Pooja Ghatkar, another female sports shooter from the host nation, won the bronze medal with a final score of 184.5.

The 2016 Asian Olympic Shooting Qualifying Tournament opened in New Delhi, India, on January 27, and will finish on February 3.

The tournament has brought together a total of 538 shooters from 30 Asian countries, including Bangladesh, China, Iran, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

From left to right: Silver medalist Zhang Binbin of China, Iran’s gold medalist Elaheh Ahmadi and Iranian bronze medalist Najmeh Khedmati pose with their medals after the women’s 10m air rifle finals at the Gabala Shooting Club in Gabala, Azerbaijan, on August 10, 2015.

On August 11, 2015, Khedmati collected 185.5 points in the P2 (women’s 10m air pistol) to pick up the bronze at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup 2015 Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun tournament in Azerbaijan, and book a berth in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The ISSF World Cup 2015 Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun tournament, with Rio 2016 Olympics direct quota allocation, opened in Gabala, Azerbaijan, on August 6, and ran until August 16.

The event brought together a total of 1,038 male and female sports shooters from 83 world nations.

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