ISSF World Cup: India's Abhishek Verma shoots gold, secures Olympic quota

Indian shooter Abhishek Verma made the country proud on Saturday by bagging a gold medal in his first International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup  in Beijing on Saturday. 

The 29-year-old, who was appearing only in his second ISSF World Cup, shot a total score of 242.7 in the finals of the men's 10m Air Pistol event to take the top honours. 

With the win, Verma has also bagged India's second Tokyo Olympic quota place in the men’s 10m air pistol event after Saurabh Chaudhary clinched the first in the national capital. 

Meanwhile, Artem Chernousov of Russia and Korea’s Seungwoo Han settled for silver and bronze medals after posting a score of 240.4 and 220, respectively. 

Earlier, Verma booked his place in the summit showdown of the Shooting World Cup after finishing at the fourth spot with a score of 585 (19x) in the qualification round of the 10m Air Pistol event.

Shahzar Rizvi and Arjun Singh Cheema, the other Indians in the fray, finished the event at the 32nd and 54th spots, respectively.