Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Ronjan Sodhi will spearhead Indian challenge at the ISSF Shotgun World Cups in Mexico and United Arab Emirates in March and April.
Indian shooter Mairaj Ahmed Khan made a successful start to his campaign at the ISSF World Cup by winning a silver medal in men's skeet event in Rio de Janeiro.
Vijayveer Sidhu picked up his third gold medal of the ongoing ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, combining with Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu and Adarsh Singh to clinch the men's 25m pistol event.
In other India-related news, Manish Kaurav (KL3 men 200m) and Manjeet Singh (VL2 men 200m) made it to the finals of their respective events for the first time in the history of the tournament.
Ace shooters Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu brought joy to the Indian squad competing at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rife/Pistol stage at Gabala, Azerbaijan, when they clinched gold in the 10m mixed team air pistol event by beating Russia 7-6 in the finals on Monday.
The 20-year-old's top prize, however, did not translate into an Olympic quota for India as Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil have already secured the maximum two berths available per country in last year's World Championships.
This was Apurvi's second ISSF World Cup gold of the year followed by a world record score in New Delhi in February.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
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.
India were placed at the top of the medals tally with two gold, one silver and a bronze.
India topped the medals tally ahead of hosts China (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), who won five medals in total.
India will be represented by a record 15 shooters at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
India's teenage shooting stars Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary smashed the qualification World record before clinching the 10 metres air pistol mixed team gold in the 12th Asian Airgun Championship in Taoyuan, Taipei, on Wednesday.
Come August 1 and India's champion double-trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi will become the world No 1 in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) rankings. The numero uno status will add to Sodhi's growing list of honours and achievements in recent years -- he recently won a bronze medal at the ISSF shotgun World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia.
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 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.
Saurabh, who holds the junior world record, smashed the senior record on his way to the men's 10m air pistol gold with at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi.
'Lonely' Bindra hopes for gold club company in Tokyo 2020
The Indian shooters will begin training at the venue from July 19, having got their rooms allotted at the games village after arriving in Tokyo in the wee hours of Saturday.
Sarabjot's effort meant that India swept both the men's and women's 10m air pistol crowns
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.
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.
Speaking to ANI, a Board official said the comments are 'immature' and also pointed that the Indian government has already made its policy clear when it comes to handing visas to players for international sporting events.
The letter from Julaniya, in possession of ANI, clearly stated that country of origin of athletes wouldn't be a barrier for them to get visas to come and compete in international sporting events in the country.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra made the announcement during the send-off ceremony in New Delhi 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.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
'Sport is cruel, as is life, which is why winning becomes sweet.'
Jitu Rai on Wednesday said he 'enjoys' fighting his way back from difficult situations.
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.
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.
Team India's Jasprit Bumrah, India women's cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur and shooter Heena Sindhu have exceeded expectations to make the cut.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Indian pair shot a total of 483.5 to finish on top of the podium at the ISSF World Cup.
