Three weeks before the start of the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning, USA, Rahi Sarnobat had replaced her pistol grip with a customised one. On Thursday it paid off.
The 20-year-old Kolhapur shooter fired 789.7 (582 + 207.7) points to clinch bronze and a 2012 London Olympic Games quota for the country in 25m sports pistol. After finishing seventh in the qualifying round, Sarnobat played her sporting career's best finals, jumping from seventh to third spot.
Sarnobat became the second Indian woman pistol shooter to earn the Olympic berth after Annu Raj Singh, who clinched the quota in 10m air pistol two days back. Anisa Sayyed qualified for the finals but finished seventh (787 points), while Annu Raj ended a poor 33rd with a score of 574.
Sarnobat also became the sixth Indian shooter after Gagan Narang, Hariom Singh, Sanjeev Rajput, Ronjan Sodhi and Annu Raj to earn an Olympic quota for the country.