COVID-19 and the lockdown has not dampened Manu Bhaker's spirit.
Here are five shooters to watch when the Games formally kick off on July 23
Palak, Esha gold-silver feat makes it a historic day for India
India's tally in the premier tournament is 32 medals, including 12 gold, eight silver and 12 bronze.
The National Rifle Association of India has postponed the compulsory training camp for its Olympic core group planned in New Delhi from Saturday after taking into the account the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, a shooting coach at the camp's venue -- Dr. Karni Singh Range -- tested positive for COVID-19 but the development will not force a closure of the facility.
India's Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Singh Deswal failed to make the final. The 19-year-old Bhaker, ranked No. 2, was done in by a technical glitch involving her gun after an impressive start saw her take one of the places in the top eight.
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.
The IOA had also urged five Olympic-bound sportspersons, who have recovered from COVID-19 in the recent past, to take their first dose of the vaccine as soon as possible.
The Indian shooters failed miserably when it mattered the most
The onus will be on Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal in women's 10m air pistol, and the men's 10m air rifle duo of Divyansh Singh Panwar and Deepak Kumar to bring India success on the second day of shooting event at Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
The NRAI has sent the names of champion pistol shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma for the prestigious Arjuna Award, according to federation sources.
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.
India's teenage shooting sensations extended their dominance in the ongoing ISSF World Cup in New Delhi on Monday, winning the mixed team gold medals in both the 10m air pistol and 10m air rifle events to continue their stupendous run of form in the run-up to this year's Olympics.
Deswal shot 238.8 to comfortably finish on top of the podium in the eight-women final while Bhaker managed 236.7 to settle for the silver medal.
'They are just making me the scapegoat after what happened in Tokyo. They can't just pass the buck to me for Manu Bhaker's failure. What were the coaches doing in Tokyo? I was not there with them at the Olympics.'
After letting her pistol do all the talking, Manu Bhaker spoke little, but enough to express her joy at winning the 10 metres Air pistol gold at the Commonwealth Games.
India opened its medal account with a gold each in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed and 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team events on the third day of competitions at the ISSF Shooting World Cup.
Bhaker shot 244.7 to claim the top prize in the prestigious season-ending tournament
Then, in the 10m air pistol mixed team competitions, India's top pair comprising Manu Bhaker and Chaudhary too came overall second among 43 pairs, shooting a combined score of 580 out of a possible 600.
Aishwary Pratap Singh clinched a comfortable win over Alexander Schmirl to clinch gold at the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Cairo.
Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and MC Mary Kom will headline the action for India at the Tokyo Olympic Games on Sunday.
The Indian women's team comprising of Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan and Naamya Kapoor, dominated proceedings in the 25m pistol team event at the ISFF Junior World Shooting Championship in Lima, Peru, beating US 16-4 in the gold medal match.
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.
Indian shooter Manu Bhaker won gold in women's 10m Air Pistol in Youth Olympics on Tuesday.
On Friday, the Indian shooting contingent for Tokyo 2020 reached Amsterdam from their Zagreb base in Croatia. Saurabh Choudhary, Abhishek Verma, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, and Anjum Moudgil headline India's shooting squad.
Vinesh, Dutee, Bhaker also among nominees for 'BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year'.
The more experienced Heena Sidhu suffered a similar fate, as she was placed 25th with 571.
Sporting icons -- PV Sindhu and MC Mary Kom -- will be the star attractions among the Indians on Day 6 of the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.
On Sunday, the Women's 25m Pistol Team won a silver and the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) team won a bronze, even as India ended their Paris 2024 Olympics quota quest at two from the championship. Their tally now stands at 12 gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze medals, as per a press release from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
Manu Baker won two gold medals in as many days on a World Cup debut
Then the air rifle women's team consisting of Arya Borse, Zeena Khitta and Ramita downed the Korean trio of Yeeun AN, Eunji Kwon and Jeongin Jang 17-9 in the title decider to give India the third gold of the day.
In awe of the sensational Saurabh Chaudhary, former World championship silver-medallist shooter Jitu Rai feels the reticent youngster has it in him to humble one of the sport's all-time greats, South Korean Jin Jong-Oh, at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Humpy bagged the award after receiving the highest number of votes from the fans.
For someone who took to shooting just a little over two years ago, winning two gold medals at a global event of this magnitude would easily qualify as some achievement.
India's batting great Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday gave his best wishes to India's Olympic-bound contingent and lauded them for continuing their preparations despite the many challenges posed by COVID-19.
The return of shooting, which was controversially dropped from the Birmingham CWG earlier this year, is a welcome development for India.
The experienced Amanpreet Singh, Manu Bhaker and Meghana Sajjanar were among the Indian shooters who shone in the first-of-its-kind International Online Shooting Championship held on Wednesday. In the 10m air rifle event, Austria's Martin Strempfl finished at the top with 632.5, Sajjanar was second with 630.5 while Etienne Germond of France was placed third with 629.4.
'Best quality ammunitions for our top shooters will be made available at their doorsteps wherever they are practicing.'
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.
