India clinch both ISSF President's Trophies
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.
Here are five shooters to watch when the Games formally kick off on July 23
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.
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Pistol sensation Manu Bhaker continued her terrific run of form, again claiming the individual as well as the team gold medal, while Gaurav Rana bagged a silver, as Indian shooters set the stage ablaze in the ISSF Junior World Cup, in Sydney, on Saturday.
Done with the World Cup, shooters Ravi Kumar and Deepak Kumar said they have been asked to report by their employers, the Indian Air Force -- a routine practice but they expect 'instructions on protocol' in view of the escalating tension between India and Pakistan.
'Although a Commonwealth Shooting Championships is amongst one of several ideas being discussed with the ISSF, nothing has been formally proposed, let alone agreed upon'
Pakistan will not participate in the shooting World Cup in New Delhi after a top official of the national federation confirmed that its marksmen had not been issued visas
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
With no Olympic quota places on offer, the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) has decided not to host the pistol and rifle World Cup scheduled in Delhi in March next year. The alternative venue for staging the World Cup would be decided in the coming weeks.
India's Prakash Nanjappa won a bronze medal in the men's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup at Changwon, Korea on Saturday.
Rahi Sarnobat scripted history on Friday, becoming the first Indian pistol shooter to clinch a gold medal in the ISSF World Cup, when she pipped local hope Kyeongae Kim 8-6 in the final of the 25m sports pistol event in Changwon, Korea.
Least affected by the recent controversies around her, India's pistol ace Heena Sidhu's primary target is the World Championship
Pournima Zanane had been suffering from cancer for the past two years and also underwent extensive treatment for the same.
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.
Asian Games gold-medallist Saurabh Chaudhary shattered the world record to claim the junior 10m air pistol gold at the ISSF World Championships
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.
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.
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.
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.
India topped the medals tally ahead of hosts China (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), who won five medals in total.
India were placed at the top of the medals tally with two gold, one silver and a bronze.
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.
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.
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.
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.
India will be represented by a record 15 shooters at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
'Lonely' Bindra hopes for gold club company in Tokyo 2020
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.
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.
Sarabjot's effort meant that India swept both the men's and women's 10m air pistol crowns
