Games doha

The Asian Games:  The Indian shooting squad finished its campaign in the 19th Asian Games here with a record haul of 22 medals -- 7 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze medals, finishing behind host and Asian superpower China, who topped the standings in shooting with 29 medals -- 16 gold, 9 silver and 4 bronze medals.

The superb medal haul will definitely be a big morale booster for the medal winners as they will be next going into the Asian Championships in Changwon, Korea, from October 22 to November 2, which will have 24 quota places, two in each of the 12 individual events, and hoping to claim quota places for the Olympic Games to be held next year in Paris. The Asian Games were not an Olympic qualifying event and therefore the performance here did not count towards Olympic berths.

India has so far won seven quota places in shooting through the various World Championships, and is eligible to field a 24-member squad -- 12 men and 12 women. Apart from the World Championships and various continental championships, shooters can also gain Olympic quota places, if they fail to get through the various competitions, as the best-ranked shooters who do not have the Olympic quota place will be awarded one each in the 12 events. But this will be subject to the limitation of 24 members in the squad.