The Indian Shooting Contingent is set to see its biggest representation at the Summer Olympics in Paris. A total of 21 shooters will represent the country in the event that is set to take place between July 27 to August 5. The record number of quotas secured this time is a great sign for India, but it certainly does not guarantee silverware. During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the country had 15 shooters, but none of them were able to make it to the podium.
This time around the National Rifle Shooting Association adopted a different strategy to prevent a similar occurrence at the quadrennial event. Although shooters were able to secure quotas in events across the three disciplines ie; rifle, pistol and shotgun by winning tournaments. They were asked to once again compete for their spots in Qualifying tournaments which were held in India. This helped the country form the strongest possible team, thereby increasing the possibility of winning a medal in shooting.
The last time India won a medal in shooting was in 2012 when Vijay Kumar and Gagan Narang secured the silver and bronze medals at the London Games. Since then the country has not been able to garner success in the sport at the Olympics. The likes of Manu Bhaker and Anjum Modgil looked like they could bring back the glory to the sport in Tokyo, but they weren’t able to get into even a close fight for a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. However, this time around it looks like the merit-based qualifying system is going to help the shooting contingent deliver great results.
Indian shooting contingent for the Paris Olympics
Men:
Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta (10m Air Rifle M)
Aishwary Tomar, Swapnil Kusale (50m Rifle 3 Positions M)
Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema (10m Air Pistol M)
Anish Bhanwal, Vijayveer Sidhu (25m RFP M)
Prithviraj Tondaiman – Men’s Trap
Anantjeet Singh Naruka – Men’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team
Women:
Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita (10m Air Rifle W)
Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil (50m Rifle 3 Positions W)
Rhythm Sangwan (10m Air Pistol W)
Manu Bhaker – (10m Air Pistol W, 25m Pistol W)
Esha Singh (25m Pistol W)
Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singn – Women’s Trap
Maheshwari Chauhan – Women’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team
Raiza Dhillon – Women’s Skeet
