'Lonely' Bindra hopes for gold club company in Tokyo 2020
Sarabjot's effort meant that India swept both the men's and women's 10m air pistol crowns
Manu Bhaker claimed the gold medal in the women's 10am air pistol, while birthday boy Deepak Kumar gifted himself a bronze medal in men's 10m air rifle at the 14th Asian Championship.
'Sport is cruel, as is life, which is why winning becomes sweet.'
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra made the announcement during the send-off ceremony in New Delhi on Monday.
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.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
Asian Games gold medallist Jitu Rai has been recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for his exploits in pistol shooting in the last two years although he couldn't win a medal in the Rio Olympics. "Yes, we have recommended Jitu's name for Khel Ratna award," National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) secretary Rajiv Bhatia said. NRAI has also recommended woman rifle shooter Apurvi Chanela and men rifle shooters Gurpreet Singh and PN Prakash for the Arjuna Awards, according to Bhatia.
Jitu Rai on Wednesday said he 'enjoys' fighting his way back from difficult situations.
World No 1 Bajrang has recently stamped his authority at the Asian Championship in Xi'an, China by clinching a gold medal in the men's 65kg freestyle event.
Tokyo Olympics medal prospect Manu Bhaker has demanded action against two Air India employees for allegedly 'harassing' and 'insulting' her while the ace shooter tried to board a flight to Bhopal from Delhi.
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.
Team India's Jasprit Bumrah, India women's cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur and shooter Heena Sindhu have exceeded expectations to make the cut.
Verma wins compound individual gold, opens tally for India.
Saurabh Chaudhary claimed the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event at the Youth Olympic Games, in Buenos Aires, on Wednesday, capping off the Indian shooting team's best-ever outing in the mega event on a rousing note.
India's Prakash Nanjappa has earned a quota place for the 2016 Rio Olympics after finishing eighth in the finals of 50-metre men's pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan.
India's Mairaj Ahmad Khan finished 4th at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final in Rome on Thursday losing a shoot-off against Egypt's Azmy Mehelba in the skeet event.
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.
Junior shooters deliver 2 gold, 1 silver for India at world championships
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.
The Indian pair shot a total of 483.5 to finish on top of the podium at the ISSF World Cup.
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar bagged India's 13th Olympic quota in shooting with a bronze medal in men's 50m rifle 3 positions at the 14th Asian Championship.
Lakshaya and Kismat Chopra along with Manavaditya Singh Rathore on Thursday bagged the team bronze in the Men's Trap event as India ended their campaign at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup with a total of 24 medals to grab the second place in the overall standings. India finished with a total of nine gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals as the year's second and final Junior World Cup concluded in Gabala, Azerbaijan.
Indian shooter Ravi Kumar won the bronze medal in the men's 10m air rifle event at the 21st Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Sunday.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has prompted India to withdraw from next month's shooting World Cup in Cyprus, the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) revealed on Friday.
Unlike some of India's top pistol shooters, Gagan Narang is not 'deeply saddened' but ready to embrace change in Olympic events.
'I think Croatia must be better than India currently (in terms of COVID-19 situation) and being with the team also gives you confidence. I don't see any problem from being away from home for three months.'
Hitting the target with monotonous regularity, Indian shooters' dominance in a phenomenal 2019, at times, made world events look like domestic tourneys. Indian shooting's best show at the Olympics remains the two medals won at London in 2012, but if the shooters' exploits in recent months are anything to go by, the country can easily emulate or better that in Tokyo.
Batra felt that the level of competition at the CWG is not high and Indian athletes should be better served if they compete at better tournaments.
The 16-year-old claimed the top honours in the men's 10m air pistol event at the season-opening ISSF World Cup.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
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.
Ankur Mittal added to the Indian shooting contingent's medal rush by winning a bronze in the men's double trap event of the 21st Commonwealth Games, in Brisbane, on Wednesday.
Impressed with the performance of the Indian shooting contingent in Gold Coast, ace marksmen Jitu Rai is worried about the adverse effect that non-inclusion of the sport in the 2022 Birmingham Games will have on young talents.
There was some cheer for India after two barren days as the duo of Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu triumphed in the 10 metre mixed team air pistol event of the ISSF World Cup.
Gold rush continues for India but 16th Olympic quota eludes hosts.
P V Sindhu won the ESPN's 'Female Sportsperson of the Year' award while young shooter Saurabh Chaudhary bagged the honour in the male category.
26-year-old Anjum Moudgil has also been offering counselling sessions to her friends, some of whom are shooters, at a personal level.
Manu Bhaker is grounded as she gears up for another test of her 16-year-old mind and body in next month's Asian Games.
Confined to their homes owing to the coronavirus pandemic, India's top shooters will soon be provided with shooting range simulators -- SIUS Ascor's electronic target systems -- which will allow them to practice indoors efficiently. Work is already underway but it could still take a month's time for the equipment to be delivered to the shooters.
