Bhutan’s lone female para shooter, Kinley Dem, is set to represent the country at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. This is Kinley’s first appearance in the Paralympic Games. Currently, she is honing her skills in India. Kinley and her coach, Dawa Lham, departed Bhutan a few days ago and will spend the next five days training at a world-class facility in Delhi. According to the coach, this training stint is crucial for Kinley to gain experience and adapt to the high standards of international shooting ranges.
29-year-old Kinley Dem from Wangdue Phodrang will be the only athlete to represent Bhutan at the Summer Paralympics in Paris.
Although she has secured a place in the Paralympics, it was not an easy task. She could not directly qualify for the Paralympic games. In her first qualification round in New Delhi in the 2024 World Shooting Para Sports World Cup, she competed against 21 international para-athletes. She came in the 13th place after securing 612.1 points in March this year.
Similarly, in her second qualification round in the Changwon 2024 World Shooting Para Sports World Cup in Korea, she competed against 16 athletes and secured 618.8 points.
She was able to carry on to the final round, but with only 206.5 points, she stood 4th out of the remaining eight athletes in April. This meant she came short of the direct qualification as only the gold medallist was given the spot.
However, by applying for bipartite places, she got the chance to participate in the Paralympic Games. To apply for these places the athletes need a minimum score of 595 points in the two World Cups, which Kinley easily scored.
Kinley is currently training at the prestigious Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi and will practise with a few other para-athletes till Saturday.
Kinley will compete against 17 athletes in women’s 10-metre Air Rifle on the 30th of this month.
“I am participating for the first time in the Paralympics and this is also Bhutan’s first appearance in the Paralympics. I am worried as other athletes are more capable and have more experience than me. All of them have been participating in the Paralympics before. I can’t say I will get medals like others as it will depend on our luck. However, I will put in my best effort and try to do well in the tournament.”
She will leave for Paris from New Delhi on Sunday. Having started her career in 2018, this will be her sixth appearance in an international para-shooting event representing Bhutan.
The world’s best-shooting para athletes representing 51 nations will be at Chateauroux Shooting Centre in France. They will compete in 13 medal events from 30th August to 5th September at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Shooting has been a part of the Paralympic Games since the 1976 Paralympic Games in Canada.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Kipchu
