Ronjan Sodhi wins silver

Asian Games Gold medallist Ronjan Sodhi. File photo

Asian Games gold medallist Ronjan Sodhi won the double trap silver and an Olympic quota place in the shotgun World Cup in Beijing on Sunday.

Sodhi led the six finalists at the halfway stage after having made the final with a total of 142, one point behind the leader Hakan Dahlby of Sweden. However, Sodhi missed eight of 18 birds at one stage, after shooting 22 straight from the start, possibly owing to the pressure of competing with three others for two quota places.

Sodhi had slipped to the third spot behind the eventual champion William Chetcuti and Li Jun, but shot nine of the last 10 birds to ensure the silver and more importantly the entry ticket for London 2012.

He had shot 46, 48 and 48 in the qualification series, before compiling 41 in the final.

Sodhi is the fourth Indian shooter in the current cycle to win Olympic quota places.

The results: Double trap : 1. William Chetcuti (Mlt) 185 (141); 2. Ronjan Sodhi 183 (142); 3. Li Jun (Chn) 182 (140); 13. Mohammed Asab 136; 35. Vikram Bhatnagar 128.

MQS : Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore 138; Ajay Mittal 128.