Paris Olympics: Arjun Babuta qualifies for 10m air rifle finals

Chateauroux (France): Indian shooter Arjun Babuta secured a spot in the 10m air rifle final of the Olympic Games after finishing seventh in the qualification round here on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Babuta shot a series of 105.7, 104.9, 105.5, 105.4, 104.0 and 104.6 to make the cut with a score of 630.1 points.

He will take another shot at glory in the eight-shooter final on Monday after narrowly missing out on a final berth in the mixed team event with Ramita Jindal on Saturday, where the duo finished sixth in the qualification.

The Chandigarh boy, who has been in the national squad since 2016, has been a perennial underachiever before he came into national reckoning by clinching an Olympic berth at the Asian Shooting Championships last year in Changwon.

Army man Sandeep Singh shot 629.3 to finish 12th in the same event ending his Paris campaign, having achieved plenty of experience in his maiden Olympics after displacing world champion Rudrankksh Patil in the selection trials in April-May.

China's Sheng Lihao topped the qualifiers, shooting 631.7, just one point adrift of the qualification record of 632.7 set by countryman Yang Haoran at the Tokyo Games.