Indian pistol and rifle shooters are determined to continue their winning streak at the ISSF World Cup in Granada, Spain, despite missing key players.
Eight Indian shooters, including double Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker, have secured their places in the season-ending ISSF World Cup Final scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar, from December 4 to 9.
Indian shooting ace Elavenil Valarivan settled for the bronze medal after leading for a good part of the women's 10m air rifle final on the first competition day of the ISSF World Cup in Munich on Tuesday.
Indian shooting's latest golden girl Suruchi Singh dominated a quality field to win her third straight individual ISSF World Cup gold medal with her triumph in the women's 10m air pistol final, in Munich on Friday.
'The team has been disqualified from the tournament due to unsporting behaviour, that is what the technical director of the ISSF.'
Two-time medallist Elavenil Valarivan will fancy her chances on the first competition day of ISSF World Cup in Munich on Tuesday
India's top shooters will compete in National Selection Trials 3 in Delhi to secure spots in the national squad for upcoming international competitions. The trials will feature Olympic disciplines and rifle prone competitions.
Sarabjot Singh opened India's account at the ISSF World Cup in Munich with a gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol event.
Sift shot 452.9 and missed silver by an agonising 0.1 to China's Han Jiayu, the reigning air rifle women's world champion.
Arya Borse and Arjun Babuta dished out a thoroughly dominant performance and outplayed China's reigning Olympic and World champion duo Zifei Wang and Lihao Sheng 17-7 to win the gold medal in the 10m air rifle mixed team event of the ISSF World Cup.
Indian shooter Manu Bhaker is preparing for the Asian Games and World Championships, aiming to reignite her competitive edge after a quiet spell following the Paris Games. She also expressed excitement about shooting's return to the 2030 Commonwealth Games in India.
Suruchi Singh claims No. 1 spot in ISSF women's 10m air pistol rankings
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.
Reigning Asian Games champion Palak and Paris Olympics stars Manu Bhaker and Swapnil Kusale headline the 23-member Indian squad for the Munich leg of the Rifle/Pistol ISSF World Cup, beginning June 8.
Harmanpreet Singh, Smriti Mandhana, Divya Deshmukh among five Indian stars nominated for BBC awards
Young Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela impressed again as she clinched the silver medal in women's 10m air rifle event of the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals in Munich.
However, with the Munich World Cup being cancelled, sources close to the NRAI said the sport's apex body in India is also under pressure to follow suit, considering the uncertainty arising out of the unprecedented health crisis.
Woman shooter Heena Sidhu created history by becoming the first pistol exponent from India to win a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup finals in Munich, Germany.
The 23-year-old Samra, who holds the current world record in women's 50 metre rifle three positions event which she had set while winning the gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games, shot 453.1 in the eight-player final.
Former Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra will lead the 25-member Indian shooting contingent in the third leg of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup (Rifle/Pistol), to be held in Munich from May 19 to 26. The Indian team comprises of 17 shooters and eight officials. But with the Rio Games less than three months away, all eyes will be on those shooters, who are selected to represent India at the Olympics. Apart from Abhinav, other Indian shooters in the World Cup team who will also be heading to Rio include the likes of Jitu Rai, Gagan Narang, Chain Singh, Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul, Gurpreet Singh, P N Prakash and Heena Sidhu.
Top Indian shooter Sanjeev Rajput, on Sunday, found his rifle broken while flying back home after participating in the ISSF World Cup final in Poland.
Sandeep Singh, who had topped the national trials in 10m air rifle, narrowly missed qualification after finishing ninth with a score of 631.4.
Double Olympic bronze-medallist shooter Bhaker finished sixth in 25m pistol after entering the eight-shooter final placed fifth with an aggregate 'precision' and 'rapid fire' score of 588.
The Meerut-based Rizvi shot a world record 242.3 in the 10m air pistol event's final to beat reigning Olympic champion Christian Reitz of Germany (239.7) to win the top prize.
Jitu Rai, on Wednesday, continued his imperious form in the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup as he won gold in the 50m-pistol event at Karni Singh Shooting Range, in New Delhi.
Jitu, who had won a silver medal in the free pistol competition, shot 200.8 in the final round to clinch the gold in the air pistol event.
Jitu, who had won a silver medal in the free pistol competition, shot 200.8 in the final round to clinch the gold in the air pistol event.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Olympian Heena Sidhu produced a creditable performance but that was not good enough to help the Indian win a medal in the Women's 10-meter Air Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich.
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.
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.
'I was just trying to control my nerves. Nerves do play a big role. I just asked myself to stay calm as it was a matter of few more shots'
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.
A reputed national coach has been accused of tampering with rifles of some shooters by their parents, a charge that has been vehemently denied by the national federation, which has urged the aggrieved individuals to file a complaint.
The shooting World Cup scheduled to be held in two parts in New Delhi in May was on Monday cancelled owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The World Cup, originally scheduled to be held from March 15-26, was postponed to May barely four days before the start of the event.
The NRAI has sent the names of champion pistol shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma for the prestigious Arjuna Award, according to federation sources.
After winning three medals in the ISSF World Cups in Munich and Slovenia recently, in-form Indian shooter Jitu Rai was eleveated to the world's number one ranking in the air pistol event. The 27-year-old armyman from Lucknow is the seventh Indian shooter to achieved the No 1 ranking.
India's pistol ace Jitu Rai displayed good form to sail through to the qualification round of the men's 50-metre pistol event on the opening day of the ISSF World Cup in Munich on Saturday.
Former world number one Heena Sidhu missed out on qualifying for the final of women's 10-metre air pistol event by just one point on the concluding day of the ISSF World Cup in Munich on Wednesday. At the Olympic Shooting Centre, Heena finished 12th out of 104 shooters in the eventual standings but would have been pleased at having shot a higher score than 384 ahead of the all-important Rio Olympics. The eighth finalist from Serbia, who eventually won the gold, made it through with a score of 385 and had less inner 10s than Heena. Shweta Singh and Shri Nivetha Paramanantham, the other Indians in the event shot 378 and 377 to finish 47th and 52nd respectively. Serbia's Bobana Velickovic won the gold in the event, while Sonia Franquet of Spain bagged the silver and China's Mengxue Zhang won the bronze medal.
Jitu Rai on Wednesday said he 'enjoys' fighting his way back from difficult situations.
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