Pakistan's Gulfam Joseph nearly misses out on finals spot in Olympic shooting

Shooter scores 578 points in 10 metre air pistol event qualification, bags ninth spot

Pakistani shooter Gulfam Joseph nearly missed out on a finals spot at the 10 metre air pistol in Tokyo, after scoring 578 points on Saturday.

Joseph, hailing from Jhelum, was the biggest surprise entry in Olympics from Pakistan. He booked his place for Olympics quota place through his performance at the 14th Asian Championship in Doha in November 2019.

In the qualifying round, Joseph was placed ninth, just one position below the qualifying spot. Indian Saurabh Chaudhary topped the qualifying with a score of 586.

Pakistan have two more shooters representing the country at the Olympics, namely Muhammad Khalil Akhtar and Ghulam Mustafa Bashir. Both will be appearing in the 25m rapid fire pistol event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Earlier, Pakistan's top female badminton player Mahoor Shahzad lost her match against world number five and number four seed for Olympics Akane Yamaguchi. Mahoor lost the best of three encounter 21-3 and 21-8 at the hands of the Japanese star.

Pakistan has fielded 10 athletes in six sporting events at the 2020 Olympic Games, while 11 officials from different federations are also accompanying the athletes.

Pakistan's best hope for a medal will be Arshad Nadeem in the javelin throw event.