India’s Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta reached the final of their respective 10m air rifle events on Sunday, 28 July. Ramita and Arjun set the tone for India’s shooting contingent early on Day 2 of the Paris Olympics after which Manu Bhaker won India’s first medal in the 2024 Games. After their sensational run, interest peaked in the duo who are set to compete in the final of their events later in the Olympics.
On the day, Ramita became the second female shooter in the last 20 years, after Manu Bhaker to reach the medal round. Ramita is the first Indian female rifle shooter since her coach Suma Shirur (Athens 2004) to make it to Olympic final.
Ramita finished 5th in the rankings to make it to the medal round. Elavenil was leading at the halfway mark but the next 3 series saw her fall way behind and eventually finished 10th in the qualifying round. The final series proved to be the difference for both Indians, as they were aiming to put behind the disappointment of the mixed team event behind them.
Arjun, on the other hand continued the shooting contingent’s fine run on Sunday, July 28 as he reached the final of the men’s 10m Air Rifle event. Arjun finished 7th in the qualifying round, whick also saw Sandeep Singh compete as well, and finished 12th in the rankings in the end with 629.3 points. Arjun had a total of 630.1 points.
Arjun had started off in fine fashion as he was able to score 105.7 points with a best of 10.8. While the second series did see a small dip in the total points as he got only 104.9, Arjun was able to stay well within the top 8. He would once again up the ante in the third series with 105.5 points and a best of 10.9 in his 29th shot. He would carry the momentum into the fourth series and scored 10.8 and 10.9 with the first 2 shots.
Arjun finished with 104.6 in the final series as Ulbrich still had his final series left. Hegg of Norway was also closing in as we edged towards a photo finish. Hegg, Bonazzi and Gorsa would push for the final 2 spots in the end which did have the Indian fans sweating.
Here’s everything you need to know about the duo
Ramita is a Rifle shooter living in Ladwa District Kurukshetra, belonging to a Jindal family. She started her career in Rifle shooting when she was studying in 8th class at the age of 13 years. She started her practice at Karan Shooting Academy, Ladwa. In the beginning, she went there for 1 to 2 hours, but after 1 year, she increased in hours of her practice. In the morning she went to her school Aggarsain Public School, Kurukshetra and in the evening, she went to shooting range.
RAMITA JINDAL’S ACHIEVEMENTS
- Asian Games (2022) – 1 Silver in team event & 1 Bronze in individual event
- Junior World Championship, Cairo (2022) – 2 Gold medals in individual & team events. Junior World Championship, Lima (2021) – 1 Bronze medal in 10m air rifle individual event
- World Cup, Baku (2022) – Gold medal in the 10m air rifle women team event.
- World Cup, Changwon (2022) – Silver medal in the 10m air rifle women team event.
Arjun Babuta belongs to a middle-class family from the Jalalabad region of Punjab. It is a small village near the India-Pakistan border. He completed his primary education in his hometown and later moved to Chandigarh along with his family as his father worked with Indian Railways. Arjun Babuta studied BA Honors at DAV College in Chandigarh.
Read: Manu Bhaker shoots history in Paris
Arjun Babuta was interested in shooting and initially had no idea about the game. Arjun along with his father Neeraj Babuta approached Indian Olympic shooter Abhinav Bindra in Chandigarh to get his suggestions. He was introduced to Bindra’s coach Colonel J S Dhillon in 2013 at this stage. Dhillon suggested Arjun take up Rifle shooting. As per the suggestions of coach JS Dhillon, Arjun Babuta started training for the 10-meter Air Rifle category of shooting. Arjun won his first medal at the Chandigarh State Shooting Championship in 2013.
After that Arjun improved his performance and went on to win several medals at Junior level.
In the year 2015, Arjun Babuta entered the National Shooting Team and trained under National Coach Deepali Deshpande. He used to train for 10 hours everyday to improve his skills in the shooting game. He was selected for the Junior National Rifle Shooting team in 2016 and this became the platform for the International tournaments.
In one of the shooting events in Czech Republic in 2016, he managed to get his career best score of 632.4 points in the qualifying game. This inspired his confidence and he regularly scored above 620 points on most occasions. In 2018, he suffered from back pain and other health issues and was forced to take rest. However, he still continued playing the domestic circuit. In the Khelo India tournament he managed to get a Bronze medal. Arjun
made a stronger comeback in 2022 winning back to back medals in world tournaments.
ARJUN BABUTA’S ACHIEVEMENTS
- Asian Championship, Korea (2023)- Silver medal in the 10m air rifle individual event along with Olympics 2024 quota place for the country
- World Championship, Cairo (2022)- Gold medal in 10m Air Rifle team event
- ISSF World Cup, Changwon (2022)- 2 Gold medals in the individual and men team events
- World University Games, Chengdu (2021)- Gold medal in 10m Air Rifle individual event
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