Mumbai: In a boost for the sport in the Continent, the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) has increased the quota places for Asia at the Olympics with 48 quota places now available for shooters from the region. The new Olympic Quota Places allocation, which is 10 places more than the 38 available for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, will kick in from the next edition of the Games at Paris in 2024.
The Asian Shooting Confederation (ASC) announced on Saturday night, informing that it has got a letter from ISSF confirming the change.
“The Asian Shooting Confederation received a letter from ISSF confirming that the Olympic Quota Places for Asia is increased from 38 to 48 Quota Places,” the ASC tweeted from its official handle.
“The Asian Shooting Confederation expresses its gratitude to the ISSF and all members who contributed to this achievement,” the ASC further wrote in its tweet.
The ISSF has overhauled its qualification system for the Olympics, removing quota places from World Cups and restricting them to only World Championships and Continental Championships, thus restricting the opportunities for qualification. In the new system, the Olympic Quota Places for Asia were earlier restricted to 38. But the ISSF has now increased that to 48.
Interestingly, at the Tokyo Olympic Games, China had topped the medal standings for shooting with a total of 11 medals, including four gold.
Countries from Asia, however, had bagged more than 80 quota places with the big four — China (23), India (15), South Korea (15), and Japan (12) — accounting for more than 50 quotas while Iran had bagged six and Chinese Taipei five. Around 10 countries had bagged one quota place each.
However, only three nations from Asia — China (11), Iran (1 gold) and South Korea (1 silver)– could win medals with India being the biggest disappointment as all 15 of its shooters returned empty-handed.
(IANS)