India's ace shooter Manu Bhaker on Tuesday received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a government hospital in Jhajjar, Haryana, three months before the Tokyo Olympics where she will enter as one of India's brightest medal hopes.
A look at the country's athletes' showing at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, July 30.
Indians will enter the upcoming Olympics with heightened expectations
A day before the Tokyo-bound Indian shooting contingent hits the range for its first training session in Croatia, Manu Bhaker's pistol will give way to a pen and the shooting gear to her study materials, as she logs in for her BA fourth semester exam.
Seven Olympic and six Paralympic disciplines were identified for support at a meeting of the Mission Olympic Cell.
India's shooter Apurvi Chandela had a gold medal in her grasp before a slip up in the 19th shot pushed her outside the medal bracket at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol stage.
Champion pistol shooter Jitu Rai, Rahi Sarnobat and P N Prakash have been recommended by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for the prestigious Arjuna Awards this year.
Rahi Sarnobat beat all expectations to become India's first woman shooter with an Asian Games gold and the low-profile wushu players delivered their best ever performance even in defeat on another high-yielding day for the country at the regional showpiece.
Elavenil Valarivan and Anish Bhanwala, two of India's finest young shooters, were on Friday named in a 34-member core group for the Tokyo Olympics. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) released the list of shooters who will be training separately for the quadrennial sporting extravaganza, scheduled to be held next summer after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the Games back by a year.
World cup gold medallist Heena Sidhu was in third position in the precision round of 25 meter women pistol event, which was topped by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anisa Sayyed at the 57th National Shooting Championship in New Delhi on Monday.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is among the 20 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna Awards, who will be honoured by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
India's schedule at the Asian Games: Day 4
Bhanwala, who had made history by winning a gold at the CWG in Gold Coast earlier this year, could not repeat Friday's fine qualification performance on the second day of qualification.
The national championship silver and junior world championship bronze-medallist, however, could not replicate her qualification form in the final, only managing a sixth-place finish with a score of 116.
India's squash ace Dipika Pallikal will be in action against the formidable Nicol David in the semi-final round on Monday, the third day of the Asian Games.
All of the 15 shooters are capable of winning medals, but few are seen as sure shot to secure podium finishes
The Indian trio shot a total of 17 to beat Poland's Joanna Iwona Wawrzonowska, Julita Borek and Agnieszka Korejwo who scored 7 at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Chinky Yadav upstaged the experienced Rahi Sarnobat and the fancied Manu Bhaker to win gold as India swept the women's 25m pistol event of the ISSF Shooting World Cup in New Delhi on Wednesday.
India topped the medals tally ahead of hosts China (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), who won five medals in total.
Bollywood superstar Saif Ali Khan signed up as brand ambassador for Olympic Gold Quest on Monday and immediately pledged Rs 20 lakh a year to support the training of athletes for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Check out the complete schedule of Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Will India finally reach the elusive double-digit mark? Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry, for one, is willing to stick his neck out on the possibility.
India produced their best ever show at the ISSF World Cup after sweeping both the mixed team titles on Thursday for a total tally of five gold medals in Munich.
Junior shooters deliver 2 gold, 1 silver for India at world championships
Abhishek Verma secured India's fifth Olympic quota place in shooting after winning the 10m air pistol gold medal at the ISSF World Cup, in Beijing, on Saturday. Participating in his maiden International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup final, the Indian led the field throughout the men's 10m air pistol final to clinch the top spot with a total score of 242.7.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Tokyo should remain the benchmark and source of inspiration till at least Paris 2024. In the shorter run, India's preparations for the Asian and Commonwealth Games next year must begin based on lessons learnt now, asserts Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry.
Olympic medallist Vijay Kumar has missed out on a berth in his pet event - rapid fire pistol - for the upcoming Asian Games, but is still part of the 43-member squad, which will be spearheaded by shooting ace Abhinav Bindra.
The 16-year-old claimed the top honours in the men's 10m air pistol event at the season-opening ISSF World Cup.
India cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were on Monday recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna by the awards selection committee.
Chandela shot an astonishing 252.9 in the eight-women final, finishing 1.1 points ahead of silver medallist China's Ruozhu Zhao (251.8) points.
'Jaan hai to jahaan hai' 'It's a good decision because everyone is disturbed. Athletes' health is paramount'
Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra made the cut, but London Games bronze winner Gagan Narang failed to qualify in the 10-metre air rifle event for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
This was Apurvi's second ISSF World Cup gold of the year followed by a world record score in New Delhi in February.
Indian shooters ruled the roost for the fourth successive day as they made a clean sweep of all the six gold medals on offer in the 12th South Asian Games, in Guwahati, on Saturday.
Verma wins compound individual gold, opens tally for India.
Virat Kohli sent the shutterbugs into a clicking frenzy as he received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
'Everyone has to recalibrate their plans, preparations, peaking, meaning the tournaments they will play in in the lead-up to the Olympics.'
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