Gagan Narang, Jitu Rai and young Mehuli Ghosh failed to make the Indian shooting squad for the upcoming Asian Games, even as a few unheralded faces were picked for the quadrennial extravaganza, starting in Indonesia, from August 18.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Krrish, Ravi enter semis of Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships
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.
World No 1 Elavenil Valarivan was on Sunday included in a 15-member Indian shooting contingent for the Tokyo Olympics at the expense of quota winner Chinki Yadav, who had claimed a gold in the Delhi World Cup last month.
World cup gold medallist Heena Sidhu was in third position in the precision round of 25 meter women pistol event, which was topped by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anisa Sayyed at the 57th National Shooting Championship in New Delhi on Monday.
'To win the Olympic gold medal, I have been really working really hard for the past five years now, and it has always been my dream.'
But new faces, such as world champion 10m air rifle shooter Rudrankksh Patil, Esha Singh (10m air pistol), Sift Kaur Samra and Ashi Chouksey (50m rifle 3-positions) are some of the brightest prospects in the team with a potential to aim for gold, notwithstanding the extremely tough challenge the Chinese will pose in the coming fortnight.
Young Indian shooter Nischal won the silver medal in the women's 50 metre Rifle 3 Positions at the ISSF World Cup, in Rio De Janeiro, on Monday. It was India's second medal on the concluding day of the tournament.
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.
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.
India's squash ace Dipika Pallikal will be in action against the formidable Nicol David in the semi-final round on Monday, the third day of the Asian Games.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
India's ace shooter Manu Bhaker on Tuesday received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a government hospital in Jhajjar, Haryana, three months before the Tokyo Olympics where she will enter as one of India's brightest medal hopes.
The team will be accompanied by six coaches -- Deepali Deshpande, Samaresh Jung, Manoj Kumar, DS Chandel, Ronak Pandit and Ved Prakash -- and two physios.
a look at the country's athletes' showing at the Tokyo Games on Thursday.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is among the 20 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna Awards, who will be honoured by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Bollywood superstar Saif Ali Khan signed up as brand ambassador for Olympic Gold Quest on Monday and immediately pledged Rs 20 lakh a year to support the training of athletes for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
India's schedule at the Asian Games: Day 4
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.
A look at the country's athletes' showing at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, July 30.
Bhanwala, who had made history by winning a gold at the CWG in Gold Coast earlier this year, could not repeat Friday's fine qualification performance on the second day of qualification.
Indian shooters ruled the roost for the fourth successive day as they made a clean sweep of all the six gold medals on offer in the 12th South Asian Games, in Guwahati, on Saturday.
Indians will enter the upcoming Olympics with heightened expectations
A day before the Tokyo-bound Indian shooting contingent hits the range for its first training session in Croatia, Manu Bhaker's pistol will give way to a pen and the shooting gear to her study materials, as she logs in for her BA fourth semester exam.
Sift Kaur Samra smashed the world record to win the gold medal in the women's individual 50m rifle 3 position shooting event.
Elavenil Valarivan and Anish Bhanwala, two of India's finest young shooters, were on Friday named in a 34-member core group for the Tokyo Olympics. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) released the list of shooters who will be training separately for the quadrennial sporting extravaganza, scheduled to be held next summer after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the Games back by a year.
All of the 15 shooters are capable of winning medals, but few are seen as sure shot to secure podium finishes
The national championship silver and junior world championship bronze-medallist, however, could not replicate her qualification form in the final, only managing a sixth-place finish with a score of 116.
Seven Olympic and six Paralympic disciplines were identified for support at a meeting of the Mission Olympic Cell.
India topped the medals tally ahead of hosts China (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), who won five medals in total.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Olympic medallist Vijay Kumar has missed out on a berth in his pet event - rapid fire pistol - for the upcoming Asian Games, but is still part of the 43-member squad, which will be spearheaded by shooting ace Abhinav Bindra.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra made the cut, but London Games bronze winner Gagan Narang failed to qualify in the 10-metre air rifle event for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
Junior shooters deliver 2 gold, 1 silver for India at world championships
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.
Abhishek Verma secured India's fifth Olympic quota place in shooting after winning the 10m air pistol gold medal at the ISSF World Cup, in Beijing, on Saturday. Participating in his maiden International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup final, the Indian led the field throughout the men's 10m air pistol final to clinch the top spot with a total score of 242.7.
The 16-year-old claimed the top honours in the men's 10m air pistol event at the season-opening ISSF World Cup.
Shooters continued to deliver medals for India at the 17th Asian Games with the trio of Heena Siddhu, Rahi Sarnobat and Anisa Sayyed cliching a bronze in the women's 25m pistol event in Incheon on Monday.
