Bindra to skip Asian shooting event to give chance to others

Ace marksman Abhinav Bindra has decided to skip the Asian Olympic qualification shooting event, to be held here later this month, to give his other fellow countrymen a chance to qualify for the Rio Games.

The competition to be held at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range here from January 25 to February 3 is an Olympic qualification event and Bindra has already earned a quota place for Rio Games.

“My absence will give others a chance to win an Olympic quota for India. Am also not shooting in the Minimum Qualification Score (MQS) category as it makes no sense to me,” Bindra, who won a gold in men’s 10m air rifle event in 2008 Beijing Olympics, was quoted as saying by a website.

The final 35 Rio Olympics quota places for Asian nations will be up for grabs at the event, across three shooting disciplines of shotgun, rifle and pistol.

Not only Bindra but some of the other big names like current Olympic and world champion Jong Oh Jin of Korea will also be giving this competition a miss. Jong Oh had competed in the Asian Shooting Championship at Kuwait in November.