15 nations qualified at least one quota at the 2016 Asian Olympic Qualification Event. In total 35 quotas were available across the 15 events to the highest ranked eligible shooters, athletes which have not already qualified their nation a quota, respecting the 2 quotas per nation per event rule. More specifically one to women’s trap and women’s skeet, three to men’s 50m rifle 3 position, women’s 50m rifle 3 position and women’s 25m pistol, four to men’s trap and men’s skeet and two to the remaining eight events. Originally the event was supposed to be held in Kuwait City, Kuwait, but the suspension of the Kuwaiti National Olympic Committee meant the event was moved. The Asian Olympic Qualification Event was held in New Delhi, India from January 25th to February 3rd 2016.
The men’s 50m rifle prone was won by South Korea’s Kim Jong-Hyun, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the 3 position event. Despite a relatively poor final shot it was enough to finish ahead of Thailand’s Attapon Uae-Aree. Both nations also qualified a quota to the Olympics.
India’s Heena Sidhu was the top ranked shooter in the women’s 10m air pistol, winning the gold and an Olympic quota with a 1.3 point lead. The second Olympic quota went to fourth place finisher Golnoush Sebghatollahi of Iran.
The semi-finals in the women’s trap left three shooters tied at 13 points, requiring a shoot-off. Japan’s Yukie Nakayama grabbed the first spot to the final while a second shoot-off was required to decide the second place. That was when China’s Li Qingnian defeated her compatriot Chen Fang to reach the final. Nakayama would go to win the gold medal in a shoot-out after both athletes were tied, but since she already won a quota for her nation the Olympic spot went to China’s Li.
The men’s 25m rapid fire pistol was won by Teruyoshi Akiyama of Japan. The second quota went to the bronze medalist and Akiyama’s compatriot Eita Mori.
The quotas for the men’s trap were decided at the semi-finals as five eligible shooters competed for the four spots. Currently suspended Kuwait’s Abdulrahman Al Faihan and Chinese Taipei’s Yang Kun-Pi qualified two of the quotas for as they reached the gold medal match by winning a shoot-off. The other two quotas went to India’s Kynan Chenai whom qualified to the bronze medal match and Kazakhstan’s Andrey Mogilevskiy whom finished fifth. Al Faihan won the gold medal by defeating Yang 14-13.
In the men’s 50m pistol it was Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsuda whom won the gold medal, but since he already won a quota in an earlier event the two spots went to North Korea’s Kim Song-Guk and his compatriot 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Kim Jong-Su.
The women’s 10m air rifle required a shoot-off to decide the gold medal as Iran’s Najmeh Khedmati and India’s Ayonika Paul finished level on points. Khedmati scored 0.2 better than Paul in the shoot-off to win the gold medal. For Paul however the silver medal was enough to qualify her nation to the Olympics. The second spot went to fourth place Lee Eun-Seo of South Korea.
Japan’s Naoya Okada qualified his nation a spot in the men’s 10m air rifle by winning the gold medal. Bronze medalist Pouria Norouzian won the second quota as silver medalist Yuriy Yurkov previously won a spot in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions.
The quotas for the men’s double trap were decided in the semi-finals as United Arab Emirates’ Khaled Al-Kaabi and 2012 Olympic trap bronze medalist Fehaid Al-Deehani of suspended Kuwait qualified their nation. Al-Kaabi won the gold medal by a score of 26-25.
The three medalists in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event all won a quota for a nation. The gold medal went to Singapore’s Jasmine Ser Xiang Wei as she won her nation its first shooting quota. The silver and bronze medals went to Iran’s Mahlagha Jambozorg and South Korea’s Lee Kye-Rim respectively.
Despite sweeping the podium in the women’s 25m pistol South Korea only won one quota because they have previously won a quota in the event. The quota was won by gold medalist Koh Eun. The other two quotas went to fourth place Akiko Sato of Japan and sixth place Shun Xie Teo of Singapore.
The men’s 10m air pistol was won by Malaysia’s Guanjie Wong whom required an excellent final round to defeat Saudi Arabia’s Atallah Al-Anazi. Both shooters qualified their nation its first shooting quotas to the Olympics.
The single quota for women’s skeet was decided at the gold medal match. In the final Japan’s Naoko Ishihara defeated Thailand’s Nutchaya Sutarporn 13-9 to win the gold and Olympic quota.
The quotas for the three Olympic spots in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions were not given out to the medalists as they have all qualified previously. Instead they went to India’s Sanjeev Rajput, Qatar’s Vitaliy Dovgun and Thailand’s Napis Tortungpanich. The gold medal was awarded to Kim Jong-Hyun who won his second gold medal of the championship.
The four quotas in the men’s skeet were decided by virtue of their semi-final appearance. Kuwait’s Saud Habib and his compatriot Abdullah Al-Rashidi, Qatar’s Rashid Hamad and one between United Arab Emirates’ Mohamed Ahmad and Saeed Al-Maktoum which would be decided in the bronze medal match. The gold medal went to Saif Bin Futtais as he defeated Habin 13-12. The bronze medal went to Al-Maktoum as he defeated Aahmad 15-14.
While Kuwait is still suspended by the IOC the nation can still qualify quotas. Should the issue not be solved by the time the Olympics begin the athletes would compete under the Olympic flag. This was the final opportunity for Asian nations to qualify athletes in shooting.
Quotas by Nations
- Japan – 5
- India – 4
- Kuwait – 4
- South Korea – 4
- Iran – 3
- North Korea – 2
- Qatar – 2
- Singapore – 2
- Thailand – 2
- United Arab Emirates – 2
- China – 1
- Chinese Taipei – 1
- Kazakhstan – 1
- Malaysia – 1
- Saudi Arabia – 1
References
Road to the Olympics 