NARANG TO LEAD INDIAN CHARGE AT ASIAN MEET

New Delhi: Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang will spearhead a strong 37- member Indian squad at the 10th Asian Championship 10m rifle/ pistol in Wako City, Japan, from December 8 to 11. The team consists of junior, youth and senior shooters for the tournament, which will see a total of 407 entrants from 27 countries compete over the next four days at the Asaka Shooting Range that will be used for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics shooting competitions. There are three finals lined up for Friday — 10m air rifle men, 10m air rifle women and junior men’s finals. Narang will lead India’s challenge in the first event itself, along with Ravi Kumar and Deepak Kumar. The tournament will act as a qualification for the Youth Olympic Games, scheduled for Buenos Aires in Argentina next year. Asia has a total of 14 quota places in shooting for the Youth Olympics. Thirteen Indian shooters will be vying for those quota places across the four 10m air rifle and air pistol events in the youth category. The Indian contingent recently put up a strong show at the Commonwealth shooting championship. With Youth Olympic Games spot up for grabs, India’s young shooters like Arjun Singh Cheema, Saurabh Chaudhary and Surinder Singh will be leading the charge in the 10m air pistol men youth category. In the 10m air rifle men, Mohit Kumar Agnihotri, Dikshant Gupta, Hriday Hazarika and Tushar Mane will be fighting for the quota spot.