Vivaan Kapoor delivered a stellar performance, holding his own against some of the biggest names in trap shooting to secure India’s third LA Olympics shooting quota at the ISSF World Championships in Doha. The 24-year-old was on a hot streak but narrowly missed the gold medal, losing a tense shoot-off to Kuwait’s Abdulrahman Al-Faihan after both shooters were tied at 29 hits out of 30.
Both shooters were in top form as they finished level, forcing a shoot-off to decide the gold medal. Vivaan blinked first after hitting the target twice, while Al-Faihan registered three successful hits to take gold, much to the delight of the home crowd. China’s Qi Ying won the bronze medal with 22 hits. The three medallists from Kuwait, India and China thus secured the LA Olympic quota places.
The quotas, however, belong to the country, and Vivaan will have to come through the Olympic Selection Trials before LA to secure his place on the Indian team.
On Thursday, competing in his first-ever final at the World Championships, Vivaan showed little sign of nerves as he shot his way to a silver medal and an Olympic quota for India.
“I gave my best. It was a tough final and I wanted to focus on my job. I have competed against these shooters before and that experience helped. A big thanks to coach Peter (Wilson) for guiding us before the competition. In the end, I was flowing,” the Jaipur-based shooter told the ISSF.
“It’s great that the silver medal came along with the Olympic quota for the country. I have to give my best and get better and better,” said Vivaan, only the fourth Indian trap shooter to win a medal at the World Championships.
It was India’s third Olympic quota at the ISSF World Championships. Jaypal Malviya (10m air pistol) and Niraj Kumar (50m rifle three positions) are the other two shooters to have secured quotas.
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There were disappointments too. Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker qualified for two finals but failed to secure a quota place. She came agonisingly close in the 25m pistol, finishing fourth. This was the first ISSF event offering Olympic quota places, and there will be more opportunities next year.
Earlier on Thursday, India’s two trap shooters, Vivaan and Udaivir Singh Jaijee, qualified for the final from a strong field of 122 competitors. Paris Olympic champion Nathan Hales of Great Britain topped the qualification round with 123 hits. China’s Qi Ying finished second with 122, while Al-Faihan and Croatia’s Josip Glasnovic, the reigning world champion and 2016 Olympic gold medallist, were third and fourth, respectively, with 121 hits.
Vivaan and Udaivir were among seven shooters who finished with 120 hits and had to negotiate a shoot-off to secure their places in the eight-shooter final. Zoravar Singh Sandhu, who won a bronze medal in the previous edition, finished 55th.
In the company of Olympic and World Championships medallists, Vivaan, a former Asian junior champion competing in a major final for the first time, shot as if he belonged on the big stage. He was on target from the start, with his first and only miss coming on his 28th shot. He gave the experienced Al-Faihan a tough fight before eventually settling for silver. Udaivir Singh finished sixth.
