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Iranian shooters book two 2016 Rio Olympics berths

From left to right: Silver medalist Zhang Binbin of China, Iran’s gold medalist Elaheh Ahmadi and Iranian bronze medalist Najmeh Khedmati pose with their medals after the women’s 10m air rifle finals at the Gabala Shooting Club in Gabala, Azerbaijan, on August 10, 2015.

Iranian female sports shooters have impressed the audience at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup 2015 Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun tournament in Azerbaijan, and earned two spots in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

On Monday, 33-Iranian sportswoman Elaheh Ahmadi scored 207.8 points in the P2 (women’s 10m air pistol) and topped the podium at the Gabala Shooting Club in the northern Azerbaijani city of Gabala.

Zhang Binbin from China finished in the second place with 207.4 points and claimed a silver medal. Iran’s 19-year-old female prodigy Najmeh Khedmati collected 185.5 points to pick up the bronze. The two Iranian markswomen managed to win an Olympic quota place each for Rio Olympics.

 "I'm really happy. It's a very good thing for me, in my shooting life. I'll try all my best in the Olympic Games,” Ahmadi said after the women's 10m air rifle event.

She added that the future looks bright for the Iranian shooting team.

 

Iranian female sports shooter Elaheh Ahmadi competes in the women’s 10m air rifle finals at the Gabala Shooting Club in Gabala, Azerbaijan, on August 10, 2015.

 

"This is happiness. Iranians have the talent to be good shooters. We have lots of young shooters that are very good, and we hope that in the future they will continue this success," Ahmadi said.

The ISSF World Cup 2015 Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun tournament, with Rio 2016 Olympics direct quota allocation, opened in Gabala, Azerbaijan, on August 6, and will run until August 16.

The event has brought together a total of 1,038 male and female sports shooters from 83 world nations.

Khedmati, 23-year-old Mahlagha Jambozorg, Ahmadi, as well as 31-year-old Narjes Emamgholinejad Andevari are participating in the rifle competitions.

Iranian sportsmen Hossein Bagheri, Mehdi Ja’faripouya and Mohammad Hossein Karmi are also vying for Olympic berths in the same division.

Moreover, Behnaz Gholami, Golnoush Sabaq Elahi, Elham Harijani, Haniyeh Rostamiyan, Mohammad Ahmadi and Ebrahim Barkhordari are attending pistol contests.

Masoud Aziziyan, Reza Mostafapour, Seyyed Siavash Khoshnevis, Babak Yeganeh, Saeed Asadi, Mohammad Hossein Parvareshnia, Marziyeh Parvareshnia, Shiva Farahpour, Sepideh Sirani, Ramtin Besharati and Ali Dousti are also battling their way to 2016 Olympics in shotgun competitions.


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