Chance for young shooters to take home advantage
NEW DELHI: All eyes will be on India’s young guns when the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup gets underway here at the Karni Singh Ranges on Friday.
Teenage shotgun shooter Shapath Bharadwaj is among those whom the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has pinned hopes on to deliver the goods. “There are many youngsters in the team. We hope they make use of the event to give a fillip to the discipline in the country,” Raninder Singh, president, NRAI said.
Shapath, the 14-year-old shooter from Meerut, will team up with seasoned shotgun marksmen like Ankur Mittal and Sangram Dahiya in men’s double trap. There are also huge expectations from 26-year-old trap shooter Kynan Chenai, who has been enjoying a good season.
In women’s 10m air rifle, the focus will be on Vinita Bhardwaj, a college student from Chandigarh. The 22-year-old had claimed gold at the World University last year in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz. She outclassed many seasoned shooters to bag a national team berth.
Meghana Sajjanar, 23, and Pooja Ghatkar, 25, are the other youngsters in the rifle team. Meghana recently won four gold medals in the InterShoot event at The Hague.
Apart from young blood, London Olympic Games bronzemedallist Gagan Narang is also in the fray. But the rifle shooter will only compete in 50m prone as he missed the berth in 10m air rifle, and 50m rifle three position.”It’s the season-opening event and a good start will help me build up for other important events,” he said.
However, fitness issues aren’t a deterrent for Narang. “I am working on it. Have lost six kgs… need to shed 10 more,” he said.
Olympian pistol shooters Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu too have their task cut out. Jitu is competing in 10m air pistol and 50m free pistol, while Heena’s focus will be on 10m air pistol.
As many as 400 shooters from 50 countries will compete in an eight-day event.