Vivaan Kapoor takes silver in men's trap at ISSF Worlds, secures India an LA 2028 quota

Vivaan Kapoor won silver in the men's trap final at the ISSF World Championships on Thursday, and his finish secured an Olympic quota place for India for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The 24-year-old Jaipur-born shooter narrowly missed gold after a shoot-off against Kuwait's Abdulrahman Alfaihan.

Kapoor led for much of the final and posted a 29 out of 30 score to finish level with Alfaihan. The two went to a shoot-off to determine the champion; Kapoor missed on his third attempt and Alfaihan converted to take the title. Kapoor’s runner-up spot came by the slimmest of margins.

Kapoor had been in contention to become only the second Indian to win a men's trap world title; Manavjit Singh Sandhu remains the sole Indian world champion in the event following his 2006 gold in Zagreb. With this result, Kapoor became the fourth Indian men's trap shooter to medal at the World Championships, joining Karni Singh (silver, 1962), Manavjit (gold, 2006) and Zoravar Singh Sandhu (bronze at the previous edition in Cairo).

China's Qi Ying claimed bronze after finishing level on 18 with Turkey's Yavuz Ilnam, the podium spot being awarded to Qi on the basis of a higher qualification score. Qi also secured the third Olympic quota place that was available in the men's trap event.

Kapoor's silver was his sixth medal in ISSF competitions and his fifth silver at that level. His previous results include a silver at the Junior World Championships and a silver and a bronze at the Junior World Cup.

Kapoor's second-place finish also delivered India's third shooting quota for the Los Angeles Olympics, joining men's 10m air pistol shooter Jaypal Malviya and men's 50m rifle 3-positions bronze medallist Niraj Kumar.