Pakistan’s medal hopes remain elusive as the nation’s top shooters missed their marks on Thursday at the Asian Shooting Championships being held in Kazakhstan.
Last year, the Green Team had made history, with Kishmala Talat becoming the first Pakistani woman to qualify directly for the Paris 2024 Olympics by bagging a silver medal at the Women’s 10m Air Pistol event. She had also picked up a bronze in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event with compatriot Gulfam Joseph.
Pakistan’s experience at the championships so far has been considerably more humbling.
In Thursday’s Men’s 10m Air Rifle, Sulaiman Khan finished 37th out of 48 competitors, scoring an aggregate 618.0, with scores of 102.6, 103.4, 101.9, 102.6, 103.1, 104.4. Islam Satpayev of the host nation won gold with a score of 250.1, followed by China’s Dingke Lu with 249.8 and South Korea’s Hajun Park with 228.7.
Two-time Olympian Gulfam had earlier opened Pakistan’s run at the championships in his signature event on Monday, the Men’s 10m Air Pistol, finishing 18th with a 577—22x.
Compatriot Shahzaib Ahmed finished 34th in the same event with a 569—13x.
But Pakistan’s main medal hopes rested with Kishmala, who narrowly missed the final of the Women’s 10m Air Pistol after finishing 11th in the qualifying round on Tuesday. She scored 95, 96, 97, 97, 97, 94 in the series to finish with a 576—20x.
Pakistan fielded three marksman for the Men’s Skeet event, with Imam Haroon finishing 36th with a score of 108, Shameil Khan finishing at 40th place with a 106, and Zahid Tufail with a 101 to finish 44th.
In the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event, Kishmala and Gulfam finished 14th with a score of 573—19x, while Rasam Gul and Shahzaib finished 19th with 565—12x.
