'An example is mixed pair test event over here in air pistol (which Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu won). So we have the best chance of picking up an extra medal in the two air events. That's why I believe it is in our interest, this change. I am not worried about it'
The abundance of talent is complemented by a confident approach which the likes of Manu Bhaker, Mehuli Ghosh, Anish Bhanwala and Anjum Moudgil will display at the Games.
India's ace rifle shooter Sanjeev Rajput has finally broken his silence on an allegation of rape against him and said he has been falsely implicated in a case which has shaken his world.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
One of India's most consistent rifle shooters in recent times, Ravi was down after failing to win an Olympic quota despite displaying good form in the last World Championship.
India will be represented by a record 15 shooters at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Young Apurvi Chandela wants to be at the 'top of her game' as she aims for a maiden Olympic appearance at next year's Rio Games by fulfilling the stringent selection criteria that the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) has set for the Indian shooters.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
India finished the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) tournament with 10 gold, nine silver and five bronze for a total of 24 medals.
On Monday, it was the men's 3P team who first got India on board, going down 12-16 to Italy.
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.
Inside the shooting range, his confidence rivals a seasoned campaigner but the moment Anish Bhanwala steps out of it, he becomes the average 15-year-old worried about his maths exam. It's just that he now happens to be India's youngest Commonwealth Games gold-medallist.
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.
Swift intervention by Ministry of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj ensured shooting ace Abhinav Bindra was accompanied by his coach, whose passport got stolen in Germany while the duo were travelling to Rio de Janeiro for the ISSF World Cup, a test event for the upcoming Olympics.
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.
Ace marksman Jitu Rai flattered to deceive before crashing out of the Rio Olympics, failing to make it to the final of men's 50-metre pistol, his pet event, on Wednesday. The 28-year-old Asian Games gold medallist finished 12th in the six-series qualifying round after being placed fourth at the end of the fifth and penultimate series at the Olympic Shooting Centre.
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.
In a bizarre incident, a national-level shooter recently lost his left thumb when the 10m air pistol cylinder he was filling exploded, at the Karni Singh Range.
The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and its Athletes Committee headed by Abhinav Bindra, on Tuesday received brickbats from three-time Olympic medallist Rajmond Debevec, who said gender equality in the 2020 Olympic Games could have been achieved without scrapping the existing three events.
The 23-year-old world number 144 (before the final) from Faridabad, however, secured the Paris Olympics quota for the country after topping the second ranking round match with a brilliant 24 out of 25 hits.
The IOC said the refusal of visas for competitors went against the principles of the Olympic charter relating to discrimination and political interference from the host country.
Pistol ace Manu Bhaker has got a new electronic target installed at the makeshift shooting range at her home in Haryana in place of an archaic manual machine that was breaking down frequently and hampering her Olympics preparation. The old machine was causing her "immense irritation".
'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.'
26-year-old Anjum Moudgil has also been offering counselling sessions to her friends, some of whom are shooters, at a personal level.
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.
the past few days have been hectic for shooter Shreyasi Singh and cricketer Manoj Tiwary, who have been juggling political duties with focused preparation for their respective competitive outings as well.
Young Mehuli Ghosh settled for the silver medal after forcing a shoot-off in the women's 10m air rifle event with a perfect final shot of 10.9 while Apurvi Chandela secured bronze in the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Monday.
Tejaswini shot 102.1, 102.4, 103.3, 102.8, 103.7, 104.6 for a cumulative score of 618.9 over six series to claim her sixth CWG medal.
Sarabjot's effort meant that India swept both the men's and women's 10m air pistol crowns
Eating 'tasteless' supplements, undergoing breathing exercises and yoga is not something a teenager would love to do daily but that is the routine of shooter Ramita Jindal who has emerged as a star for India in the Asian Games.
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.
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.
Having failed at the World Cup in Guangzhou, he hopes to clinch a place at the event in Brazil later this month.
Optimistically preparing to shoot at the Games, air pistol exponent Verma, 29, is a late bloomer.
Former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has expressed his interest in the vacant managerial positions at Premier League sides Leicester City and Everton.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
The focus is firmly trained on teen sensation Manu Bhaker as the fancied Indian shooting team eyes a head start at the 21st Commonwealth Games
Here are some of the other events -- in pictures -- that made news last week.
The fallout of the Pulwama terror attack, which killed over 40 CRPF personnel, on the sporting ties between India and Pakistan was felt the strongest on Friday.
'Today we will write to the government of India to find a solution to the matter. Wrestling and wrestlers can't suffer. We are drafting a letter to urge the government to ensure that sport does not suffer'
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