Kynan Chenai nailed the trap Olympic quota with a spectacular performance, even as established stars, former world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu and London Olympics silver medallist Vijay Kumar lost out on the Olympic berth in dramatic fashion, on the second day of the Asia Olympic qualifying shooting competition at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Thursday.
Needing to shoot a perfect 25 on the last round to ensure a final entry and the right to fight for four of the six quota places on offer in men’s trap, 24-year-old Chenai responded brilliantly to the challenge by rising to the occasion.
It was a relief for the Indian camp, to put at least one in the final, after Manavjit had lost the race in the fifth round with a 23 out of 25, after having shot two perfect rounds earlier in the day. He had dropped five birds on the opening day in two rounds, and had made it difficult for himself. Prithviraj Tondaiman, on 49 overnight, struggled with a score of 22 in the third and fourth rounds, before saving face with a 24.
In effect, five were fighting for four quota places. However, it was not as simple as that, and Chenai tied with three others for the top slot in the semifnals, to ensure the elusive Olympic quota. It did not matter that he eventually missed the bronze as well to the former World junior champion Talal Allrashidi of Kuwait, as the primary task had been achieved.
The difficulty of winning the Olympic quota, even for someone like world No. 7 Manavjit, could be gleaned from the fact that only former World Champion Khaled Almudhaf of Kuwait had won the quota in the event for Rio from the whole of Asia.
Thus, Kuwait was eligible to win only one more quota, which Abdulrahman Al Faihan won in style, as an Independent Shooting Participant (ISP), as Kuwait had been suspended by the IOC. Two other quota places went to silver medallist Kun-Pi Yang of Chinese Taipei and the fifth-placed Andrey Moglevskiy of Kazakhstan who pipped compatriot Maxim Kolomoyets on the count-back after being tied on 11 in the semifinals.
The results: Men: Trap: 1. Abdulrahman Al Faihan (ISP) 14 (12)3 (122); 2. Kun-Pi Yang (Tpe) 13 (12)3 (119)1; 3. Talal Alrashidi (ISP) 14 (12)2 (121); 4. Kynan Chenai 13 (12)2 (120); 5. Andrey Mogilevskiy (Kaz) 11 (119)1; 6. Maxim Kolomoyets (Kaz) 11 (120); 9. Manavjit Singh Sandhu 118; 10. Prithviraj Tondaiman 117; MQS: Zoravar Singh Sandhu 120; Anwer Sultan 118.
25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Teruyoshi Akiyama (Jpn) 28 (575); 2. Choi Yong Hoo (Kor) 25 (575); 3. Eita Mori (Jpn) 20 (575); 4. Oleg Engachev (Qat) 16 (571); 5. Vijay Kumar 14 (576); 6. Lee Young Hoon (Kor) 12 (571). MQS: Gurpreet Singh 581; Akshay Suhas Ashtaputre 564.
