The gold rush continued for Indian shooters at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi as Ganemat Sekhon and Angad Vir Singh Bajwa claimed the skeet mixed team top honours on the fifth competition day on Tuesday.
Rajasthan's Mahaveer Singh and Tejaswini Sawant of Maharashtra were among the shooters to have won the gold medals on the 10th day of the 56th National Shooting Championship in New Delhi.
Not content with bringing home sporting laurels, one of India's most accomplished shooters Jitu Rai has taken to serving the nation as a newly-promoted Subedar Major in the Indian Army in Manipur.
Sarabjot's effort meant that India swept both the men's and women's 10m air pistol crowns
"Besides, three para shooters -- Singharaj, Rahul Jhakhar and Deepinder Singh (all para pistol shooters) and two coaches Subhas Rana (national coach) and Vivek Saini (assistant coach) did not get their visas.
The ace shooter won the 25m standard pistol competition as India won its first shooting title at the Asian Games after 12 years.
India's women shooters continue to disappoint as Rahi Sarnobat and Annu Raj Singh failed to qualify for the final round of the women's 25m pistol event after finishing 19th and 30th in the qualification at the London Olympics, on Wednesday.
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.
Ukraine's Olena Kostevych outduelled Jasna Sekaric of Serbia and Montenegro in a shoot-off to win the gold.
Annu Raj of Air India pipped Heena Sidhu of Punjab by less than a full point to grab the gold in the women's 10 air pistol event, in which, fancied shooters Anisa Sayed and Rahi Sarnobat failed to advance to the final in the 55th National Shooting Championships.
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.
Unlike some of India's top pistol shooters, Gagan Narang is not 'deeply saddened' but ready to embrace change in Olympic events.
Trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu got the nod ahead of Sanjeev Rajput as the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) announced its final shooting squad of 12 for the Rio Olympic Games in New Delhi on Saturday.
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.
Navy marksman Harpreet Singh pipped army's Vijay Kumar 28-27 to bag gold medal in the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the 55th National Shooting Championships at the Balewadi Ranges, in Pune, on Thursday.
Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai clinched gold medal in the men's 50m Pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup being held, in Bangkok, on Friday.
Young Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela impressed again as she clinched the silver medal in women's 10m air rifle event of the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals in Munich.
'He deserved to be field marshal because he carried the air force and navy with him in '71. Remember we were fighting on two fronts -- east and west. He stood out.'
India's Heena Sidhu made a grand return to form by winning the gold medal in the 10m air pistol women's event at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship, in Kuwait City, on Friday.
The Cairo World Cup will be held in all three disciplines -- pistol, rifle and shotgun -- and will conclude on February 1.
India jumped on top of overall medal standings at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship, adding with six more medals to their kitty on Day 6 of the competition in Kuwait City.
Participating in the continental tournament as guest invitee, the Indians only shot in the MQS section, and hence, their scores were not considered for medals.
The 22-year-old former junior world champion recorded 236.7 in the eight-women final of the season's fourth World Cup for pistol and rifle shooters.
Indian shooters' gold rush continued in the Asia Olympic Qualifiers with Yogesh Singh winning the top prize in individual as well as team event of the men's 25m centre fire pistol competition in Jakarta on Monday.
According to reports even Rahul's brother-in-law Robert Vadera and his son Rehan were with him in South Africa. The Indian Embassy in Johannesburg was also asked to keep the Gandhi family members visit secret due to security issues.
Abhinav Bindra has told the country's Paris-bound shooters to embrace the pressure they will face at the Games
While the performance of pistol shooters was creditworthy, their rifle counterparts were at a different level altogether.
London Olympics silver medalist Vijay Kumar on Sunday clinched the gold medal in the men's rapid fire pistol event at the 56th National Shooting Championship in New Delhi.
India registered a no-medal day for the first time in the tournament. Even though Rhythm topped qualification with her 595, teammates Esha Singh and Manu shot 582 and 578 respectively to finish at 13th and 27th positions.
The Indian pair shot a total of 483.5 to finish on top of the podium at the ISSF World Cup.
Manpreet Singh foresees an unprecedented fifth Olympic appearance for himself in the 2028 Los Angeles Games before he calls time on his career.
Jaspal Rana says 'too much' is being expected from teenage prodigies like Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala
A bullet each hit Singh in the head and near the chest. Singh was rushed to a private hospital, police said. He is currently out of danger.
Indian shooters Jitu Rai won gold while Gurpal Singh bagged silver in men's 50m Pistol at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Monday.
In the ongoing ISSF Pistol/Rifle World Cup in Bhopal, India bagged a silver and bronze in the mixed team events on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Anish shot 27 in the final to win the bronze.
Six medals from a 117-strong contingent is not ideal but India had its moments of joy, hope, frustration, and heartache.
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.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Indian shooter Manavjit Sandhu rallied to third place after the second day of qualification in the Men's Trap Shooting event at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup being held at Rio di Janerio's Olympic Shooting Centre.
