Indian shooters eye Olympic berths
NEW DELHI: After winning nine medals at the Asian Games, the Indian shooting contingent has reached the South Korean city of Changwon for the 52nd ISSF World Championships that starts on Friday. The competition has 60 quota places for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Jaspal Rana, multiple Asian Games medallist and India pistol coach, believes bagging Olympic quotas early is a big advantage as it increases preparation time.
Barring Saurabh Chaudhary, who won gold in the men’s 10m air pistol, almost all the Asian Games medal winners will be in Changwon. Chaudhary didn’t qualify but in his absence, youngsters such as Manu Bhaker, Anish Bhanwala in pistol and rifle shooter Mehuli Ghosh will be the major attractions.
For Bhaker, a teenage pistol shooter from Haryana who did well in the preliminary round of the Asian Games but fumbled in the final, the World Championships is a new chapter. “The Asian Games is past, shooters are looking to give their best,” said Rana.
Not only was Bhaker under pressure at the Asian Games, her inclusion in the 10m air pistol mixed team was disapproved by a senior shooter, according to a source in the India team. Such a controversy, however, will not arise in Changwon as each nation is allowed to field two teams in the mixed competition.
The mixed team competition, the first medal event, has four quota places. The focus will be on Heena Sidhu who will pair with Shahzar Rizvi in the 10m air pistol. Since Sidhu’s coach and husband Ronak Pandit is also overseeing Rizvi’s training, it will be interesting to see how they combine. The second team has Bhaker and Abhishek Verma.
Sidhu and Bhaker will also compete in individual 10m air pistol and 25m sports pistol events.
In the 10m air rifle, Deepak Kumar will pair with Ghosh. Ravi Kumar and Apurvi Chandela will be the other pair.
In mixed trap, Shreyasi Singh will combine with Lakshya Sheoran while seasoned shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu will team up with Seema Tomar. A good beginning will set the tone for individual events. The championships will see the return of 2102 Olympics medallist Gagan Narang in 10m air rifle and 50m prone.
Defending champion Nitu (48kg) claimed her second successive gold at the World Youth Boxing championships with a gritty performance in the in the final on Thursday.
The Haryana-boxer, who is also an Asian champion, defeated Thailand’s Nillada Meekoon in a split decision on the first day of summit clashes in which she was the only Indian in action here.
She had won her previous world championship gold last year when the event was held in Guwahati.
Also in the finals are Asian champion Manisha (64kg), Anamika (51kg) and Sakshi (57kg) but they will be in action on Friday.
JAYARAM IN QUARTERS
BARCELONA: India shuttler Ajay Jayaram progressed to the men’s singles quarter-finals with a straight-game win over Russia’s Vladimir Malkov at the $150,000 Barcelona Spain Masters World Tour Super 300 tournament on Thursday.
A former world No 13, Jayaram hardly broke any sweat as he downed Malkov 21-11, 21-10 in a lop-sided contest.
The 30-year-old Indian will next face either Spain’s Luis Enrique Penalver or Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke.