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.
Was it badminton sensation PV Sindhu, who became the first Indian to win the World Championships gold medal? Or is it the young shooting progidy Saurabh Chaudhary? Or his India colleague Elavenil Valarivan, who recently took over as World No 1? What about India's heroes on the cricketing field -- Virat Kohli? Rohit Sharma?
Manavjit Singh Sandhu stole the thunder at the Lusaill shooting ranges, clinching two silver medals for India in the men's trap event in extremely windy conditions.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
The 22-year-old Punjab shooter scored two points more than Athens Olympics gold medallist Kostevych Olena bag gold in the women's air pistol event at the World Universiade.
The NRAI has sent the names of champion pistol shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma for the prestigious Arjuna Award, according to federation sources.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the sixth day of the Asian Games.
Indian shooters ended their campaign at the International Shooting Sport Federation Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, at a creditable fourth position, finishing with three gold, four silver and three bronze.
Young Indian shooter Nischal won the silver medal in the women's 50 metre Rifle 3 Positions at the ISSF World Cup, in Rio De Janeiro, on Monday. It was India's second medal on the concluding day of the tournament.
Heena shot a near-perfect 10.8 with just three shooters left in the field but a 9.6 in the next attempt dashed her hopes of a better finish at the Jakabaring Shooting Range.
India's top pistol shooter Heena Sidhu secured an Olympic quota for the country after she led from start to finish and claimed the gold medal in women's 10-m air pistol on Day 1 of competition at the Asia Olympic Qualifiers for Shooting, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
Heena Sidhu clinched the 10m air pistol gold medal to give India a perfect start at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Brisbane on Tuesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
The youngster won the 10m Air Pistol event, setting a new record, at the SAF Games.
Things are heating up at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast as the rush for medals gets more intense on an action-packed Day 4 on Sunday.
Harven Srao turned in the best performance among the Indians at the ISSF World Cup in Milan, though he could only place 19th in the 10m Air Pistol.
Results of the Indian athletes on Day 1 at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
India's Akhil Sheoran secured the country's fifth Paris Olympics quota in shooting after winning the bronze medal in men's rifle 3-position competition at the ISSF World Championships in Baku on Sunday.
Moudgil finished second on the podium behind Korean Hana Im (251.1) and ahead of bronze-medallist Eunhea Jung (228.0), another Korean.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Captain Rani Rampal's clinical strike helped India beat South Africa 1-0 to seal their place in the semi-finals of the women's hockey event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, on Tuesday.
A poor transition from prone to the standing series cost Sanjeev Rajput dear as he finished fifth in the 50 metres rifle 3 positions event.
The participation of Indian athletes in Friday's Tokyo Olympic Games opening ceremony will be kept to a 'bare minimum' in view of the COVID-19 threat, while only six officials from the contingent will be allowed to take part in the event.
The return of shooting, which was controversially dropped from the Birmingham CWG earlier this year, is a welcome development for India.
A country can win a maximum of two quota places in a particular shooting event.
Indian shooter Manavjit Sandhu rallied to third place after the second day of qualification in the Men's Trap Shooting event at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup being held at Rio di Janerio's Olympic Shooting Centre.
One of India's strongest Olympic medal hopes, ace shooter Manu Bhaker feels preparations 'cannot get better' than the ongoing training-cum-competition tour of Croatia as she works on her consistency ahead of the Tokyo Games.
Ankur Mittal claimed the men's double trap gold medal in the ISSF World Championship for his career's biggest triumph, as the Indian shooting team continued its dominance in the premier shooting tournament.
To begin with, the opening ceremony drew praise from all quarters. Then there were parties all over Rio de Janeiro and finally, the hosts nation Brazil's first medalist.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Rathore said the government was 'leaving no stone unturned' to train 200 elite athletes for the 2020 Olympics
Women archers were on target in the individual events, while Manoj Kumar scripted a triumph of the underdog in the boxing ring on the fifth day of the Rio Games.
India's junior shooting coach Jaspal Rana advised his wards, urging them to follow in the footsteps of Abhinav Bindra and not take things for granted.
Postponement of shooting tournaments, cancellation of trials and training camps hardly matter at this point to one of India's biggest young achievers in sport, Manu Bhaker, who is hoping to see the world win the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has cast serious doubts over the Tokyo Olympic Games but the 18-year-old, a medal prospect at the quadrennial extravaganza, is currently not thinking about things that are beyond her control.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on day six of the Asian Games:
Rajput, representing Haryana, shot a solid 1176 to top qualification before a sublime 459.6 to seal gold, while Maharashtra's Rahi shot 41 in the final to dominate Manu Bhaker, who shot 32 for the silver.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
China got its first gold at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics thanks to some sharp shooting skills by Olympic debutant Zhang Mengxue on Sunday. Presenting a round-up of the athletes who shone bright to take home gold medals on Day 2 at the Rio Games...
Rediff.com's Norma Godinho and Laxmi Negi glance at the athletes and disciplines likely to win medals for India at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
