India name a strong team for 2020 shooting World Cup
Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary and Elavenil Valarivan to lead the hosts’ challenge as the competition loses a bit of its sheen following withdrawals.
Experienced shooters like Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary, Elavenil Valarivan and Deepak Kumar will lead the Indian shooting challenge at the 2020 ISSF World Cup Rifle/ Pistol/ Shotgun in New Delhi next month.
The event assumes a special significance as it will be the last World Cup event before the Indian shooting team for the upcoming 2020 Olympics is finalised.
India has secured a total of 15 quotas for Tokyo 2020, the most by the country ever.
While the world no. 3, Manu Bhaker, will be seen in action in both the 10m Air Pistol and the 25m Pistol event, Saurabh Chaudhary will hit the range for his 10m Air Pistol event. Accompanying the 17-year-old in the men’s half will be Abhishek Verma and Dharmendra Singh.
Among women, while Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Annu Raj Singh will accompany Manu Bhaker in the 10m Air Pistol, the 25m Pistol event will see Chinki Yadav and Rahi Sarnobat take to the range.
The rifle events, meanwhile, will see the best in the world leading the hosts at the season’s first World Cup.
The 10m Air Rifle will have world number one Elavenil Valarivan along with Anjum Moudgil (ranked third) and Apurvi Chandela (ranked fifth) while the men’s half will see the Tokyo 2020 quota winner, Deepak Kumar with the likes of Divyansh Singh Panwar and Pankaj Kumar fighting it out with some of the top shooters in the world.
Six nations pull out of the New Delhi World Cup
While the Indian shooting contingent will be eager to make the most of the home comforts, the competition is set to lose a bit of its sheen with as many as six nations withdrawing their participation.
This after the widespread coronavirus has forced a few countries to restrict their citizens from undertaking overseas travel.
“There were a few countries who were willing to come down but their national policies dictated that they could not travel overseas. China has taken a wise decision on their own as a nation. They don’t want to infect others and hence won’t travel,” NRAI chief Raninder Singh said on the sidelines of the team announcement in New Delhi.
“Neighbouring countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, North Korea have locked down their entire islands. Turkmenistan has also backed out because of their national policy.”
Meanwhile, the NRAI is also non-committal on India’s participation at the Tokyo Olympic Test Event that is scheduled for April 16-26 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“The team has been chosen but we are yet to decide whether to send them or not. I’m not going to risk any of those kids.
“If we receive any advice from any of the stakeholders — the IOA, the international federations, our own mission in Tokyo or even if by our own assessment we feel there’s a threat, it isn’t worth the risk.
“We are also not allowing our shooters to travel overseas to train as well,” clarified the NRAI chief.
Squad: Men: 50m Rifle 3 Position: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Chain Singh, Sanjeev Rajput
10m Air Rifle: Divyansh Singh Panwar, Deepak Kumar, Pankaj Kumar
25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Anish, Arpit Goel, Vijayveer Sidhu
10m Air Pistol: Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma, Dharmendra Singh
Trap: Kynan Chenai, Prithviraj Tondaiman, Manavjit Singh Sandhu,
Skeet: Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Gurjoat Singh
Women: 50 M Rifle 3 Position: Anjum Moudgil, Gaayathri N, Tejaswini Sawant, Sunidhi Chauhan (MQS).
10m Air Rifle: Apurvi Chandela, Elevenil Valarivan, Anjum Moudgil
25m Sports Pistol: Rahi Sarnobat, Manu Bhaker, Chinki Yadav, Annu Raj Singh (MQS)
10m Air Pistol: Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal, Annu Raj Singh
Trap: Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh, Seema Tomar
Skeet: Ganemat Sekhon, Darshna Rathore, Areeba Khan
Mixed Event: 10m Air Rifle: Divyansh Singh Panwar, Apurvi Chandela; Deepak Kumar, Elevenil Valarivan
10m Air Pistol: Saurabh Chaudhary, Yashaswini Singh Deswal; Abhishek Verma, Manu Bhaker
Trap: Kynan Chenai, Rajeshwari Kumari; Prithvi Raj Tondaiman, Shreyasi Singh
Skeet: Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Ganemat Sekhon; Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Darshna Rathore