The young shooter Ramita Jindal gave India another medal hope as she made it to the final of the women's 10m air rifle event at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday, July 28.
Jindal clinched the final berth by finishing fifth with 631.5 points in the qualification round of the individual event. She became the Indian shooter after Manu Bhaker to secure a berth in the final at the ongoing Summer Games in Paris.
The 20-year-old had a sluggish start to the qualification round as he was out of top 10. However, Ramita Jindal made a remarkable comeback to break into top eight and eventually, finishing at the fifth spot to qualify for the final of the women's 10m air rifle event. Meanwhile, Jindal's compatriot Elavenil Valarivan, who held on to fifth spot for much of the time, finished at the 10th position with 630.7 points.
Earlier, Ramita Jindal and her mixed team partner Arjun Babuta failed to qualify for the Final after sixth in the qualification round of the 10m air rifle mixed team event at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on Saturday.
With her qualification to the final of women's 10m air rifle, Jindal managed to turn heartbreak into joy as she keeps her hopes alive for maiden Olympic medal
Who is Ramita Jindal?
Ramita Jindal hails from Ladwa District in Kurukshetra and belongs to Jindal family. Ramita took up an interest in rifle shooting at the age of 8 and began her career at the age of 13.
In 2016, Ramita Jindal's shooting journey when her father Arvind Jindal, who is a tax advisor by profession, took her daughter to Karan Shooting Range in Kurukshetra. After taking serious interest in rifle shooting, Ramita changed her daily routine by going to school in the morning and then, headed to Karan Shooting Range for the practice in the evening.
Ramita Jindal got her first ever breakthrough when she finished in top 10 in the 2018 National Championships. In 2020, Jindal began to flourish as she started to win medals in various national-level competitions, which gave her recognition as one of the promising Indian shooters.
Ramit Jindal's major achievements
Ramita Jindal's first international breakthrough came when she won her first ever medal in SSF Junior World Cup in 2021. In the following year, the 20-year-old won a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Baku. Then, she won another gold medal in team event at the 2022 World Cup in Changwon.
Ramita also won a silver and a bronze in 10m air rifle women's team and individual events, respectively at the 2022 Asian Games.
In 2023, Ramita Jindal won gold medal at the World Championships, which helped her book her berth for the Paris Olympics 2024. Ladwa-born shooter has been consistent with her performances over the last couple of years and is considered as one of the biggest medal hopes for India at Paris Olympics 2024.
