CHENNAI: The wait is over for pistol shooters.
Despite possessing some proven talents, the shooters from the pistol category in the country were yet to capture an Olympic quota until Tuesday morning. It's no exaggeration to say the pressure was on them.
It was Sarabjot Singh, 22, who ended the wait by claiming a bronze medal in the ongoing Asian Shooting Championships in Changwon, South Korea, where Olympic quotas are also on the line.
In a game where winners and losers are decided by the barest of margins, Singh showed that he could retain his calm during the business end of the men's 10m air pistol final to secure the quota and go on to finish third.
There were two quotas on offer in Singh's competition and since the top two finishers from China, Zhang Yifan and Liu Jinyao, had already booked their Olympic tickets earlier, the Indian and the fourth-placed finisher walked away with the all-important quotas.
India now has won a total of eight quotas.
Despite a promising start, Singh was in a spot of bother after the 17th shot of the final. Sitting at fourth position (last quota spot), a 9.9 effort (considered to be below-par) by Singh had opened the door for fifth-placed Vladimir Svechnikov (Uzbekistan), who had shot 10.5. Singh was just .3 ahead heading into the 18th shot, which would decide who would get eliminated.
The stakes could not have been higher than this. Paris Olympics or nothing for now. That's when Singh returned with an effort of 10.1 while Svechnikov hit 9.6.
The Indian could breathe a sigh of relief. The quota was confirmed but he was not finished yet. He was looking to do one better. He was .3 shy of third-placed GJ Wong of Malaysia, who had also confirmed a quota for his country.
With the primary objective complete, the Indian had a fair chance to put the icing on the cake.
However, the Indian fell behind further by .5 after a disappointing 9.8 in response to Wong's 10. The next shot was going to decide their fate. Singh, who had won a gold medal during the ISSF World Cup in Bhopal earlier this year, responded emphatically. He hit 10.5 to relegate Wong, who shot 9.9.
The top two Chinese shooters, meanwhile, were in total control, and in the end, Singh could only reach as high as third with a tally of 221.1.
However, this third-place effort would have felt like a victory for him and the Indian shooting fraternity.
In the corresponding women's event, none of the Indias could get past the qualifying hurdle. Rhythm Sangwan finished 11th while Esha Singh finished 13th.