Niraj Kumar wins World Championships bronze and secures Olympic quota for India
The 26-year-old shooter earned India's second shooting quota for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics in Doha, Qatar.
Shooter Niraj Kumar secured a bronze medal in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions event at the ISSF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, according to the Times of India. The performance earned India a second Olympic quota place for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Kumar finished the final with 346.5 points to claim his first individual medal at the World Championships. Dmitrii Pimenov, competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete, won the gold medal, while Slovakia's Patrik Jany took the silver.
The 26-year-old from Punjab also contributed to an Indian bronze medal in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions team event alongside Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Akhil Sheoran. The trio finished with a combined score of 1,751 points, behind gold medalists from Czechia and silver medalists from Norway.
This achievement follows a previous quota secured by Jaypal Malviya, who won silver in the men's 10m air pistol event. While the quota is allocated to India, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will make the final decision on which shooters will compete at the Games.
Kumar, who has been part of the Indian Navy since 2018, expressed his happiness regarding the breakthrough. He told the ISSF YouTube channel that he had been hungry to win an individual medal after winning many team medals over the last few years.