Vivaan Kapoor won silver to secure India’s quota for LA 2028

India’s Vivaan Kapoor narrowly missed out on a maiden world title by winning silver in the men’s trap at the ISSF World Championships on Thursday. However, the 24-year-old had reason to celebrate as his second-place finish also secured India a quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Vivaan shot 29 out of 30 targets in the final to finish level with Kuwait’s Abdulrahman Alfaihan. Both shooters then went to a shootout that decided the gold medal, where the Indian missed the target on the third attempt. Alfaihan held his nerve to win the title.

The Jaipur-born shooter led the field for much of the final as he sought to become only the second Indian to win the men’s trap world title. That distinction still belongs to Manavjit Singh Sandhu, who won gold at the 2006 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

Even as the gold slipped away, Vivaan became only the fourth Indian men’s trap shooter to win a medal at the World Championships. The legendary Karni Singh won silver in 1962, Manavjit won gold in 2006 while Zoravar Singh Sandhu won bronze at the previous edition in Cairo.

Countryman Udaiveer Singh Jaijee finished sixth in the final with a score of 11.

China’s Qi Ying won bronze after finishing level on 18 points with Turkey’s Yavuz Ilnam. Qi secured the medal based on a higher qualifying score and also claimed third place in the Olympic quota on offer.

VIVAAN ADDS TO INDIA’S OLYMPIC QUOTA COUNT

The silver medal also earned India third place in the shooting quota for the Los Angeles Olympics. Vivaan joined 10m air pistol shooter Jaypal Malviya and 50m rifle bronze medalist Niraji Kumar in securing a berth for the country.

For Vivaan, the silver was his sixth medal in ISSF competitions and fifth runner-up. He also won silver at the Junior World Championships and collected silver and bronze at the Junior World Cup.

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