‘ Confident of India’s good show’
The president of the National Rifle Association of India Raninder Singh, who is now also the vice- president of the International Shooting Sport Federation, expressed confidence in the Indian team’s prospects in the upcoming ISSF World Cup Rifle/ Pistol in the capital.
The event will be held from February 20 to 28 at the Karni Singh Shooting Range and have 16 Tokyo 2020 Olympics quotas up for grabs in eight of the 10 scheduled medal events.
“We have a top fighting fit squad and a good mix of senior shooters and young turks, who have proved their mettle time and again in world class international competitions. I am confident of a good showing and we look to bag the maximum number of quotas possible. We have a top fighting fit squad and a good mix of senior shooters and young turks, who have proved their mettle time and again in world class international competitions. I am confident of a good showing and we look to bag the maximum number of quotas possible,” said Singh.
Among the 10 out of 23 competing Indian team members present were Apurvi Chandela ( Women’s 10m Air Rifle & Mixed Team), Ravi Kumar ( Men’s 10m Air Rifle & Mixed Team), Sanjeev Rajput ( men’s 50m rifle 3 positions), Rahi Sarnobat ( women’s 25m pistol), Abhishek Verma ( men’s 10m air pistol), Saurabh Chaudhary ( men’s 10m air pistol & mixed team), Tejaswini Sawant ( women’s 50m rifle 3 positions), Anjum Moudgil ( women’s 10m air rifle), Deepak Kumar ( men’s 10m air rifle) and Adarsh Singh ( men’s 25m rapid fire pistol).
Hosts will be fielding a 34- member squad, including 11 in the non- competition Minimum Qualification Score category.
In all, 495 athletes from 58 nations will be converging in Delhi with the first final slated for February 23.
A slew of top athletes of the sport including legends, reigning and former Olympic champions, world champions, Asian Games champions, Commonwealth Games champions and World Cup winners will enthrall fans over five days of Olympic sporting action.
Only the two mixed team events, one each in the air rifle and air pistol, will have no quotas on offer.
India have already bagged their maximum share of two country quotas in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle competition through Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela in the ISSF World Championship in Changwon last year. As such, these athletes will not be eligible for quotas, however that does not stop them from winning a coveted World Cup medal.
India, therefore, will look to bag the maximum possible from the 14 quotas in seven events that they are eligible to win quotas in.
The event will be held from February 20 to 28 and have 16 Tokyo 2020 Olympics quotas up for grabs in eight of the 10 scheduled medal events