Rhythm Sangwan will be the only Indian shooter to compete in two events in the season-ending ISSF World Cup Final here after double Olympic-medallist Manu Bhaker opted for a three-month rest following her exploits in the Paris Games.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Thursday announced a 23-member squad for the upcoming International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun, scheduled to be held at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range from October 13-18.
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The 22-year-old Manu scripted history for India in Paris by pocketing a bronze each in the women’s 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team event (paired with Sarabjot Singh in the latter), and the Indian shooters participating in the prestigious tournament in the national capital will look to carry on the momentum at the familiar range.
The team has nine members from the Paris 2024 Olympics team that returned with three bronze medals and a total of 11 Olympians, who will gun for the title of the best shooter of the year along with the world’s top sport shooting athletes, in 12 individual Olympic events on the New Delhi roster.
“We have a strong squad of proven performers for the ISSF year-ender and look forward to a strong performance. Expectations from the sport have reached sky-high after the Paris performance and I am sure our world class shooters are confident and excited to perform in front of home fans. A fantastic three days of world class sport shooting action awaits us as India take on the world’s best in the season-ending showdown between the best in the sport. We wish the team all the very best,” said Kr. Sultan Singh, Secretary General, NRAI.
Four shooters, Divyansh Singh Panwar (men’s 10m air rifle), Sonam Uttam Maskar (women’s 10m air rifle), Rhythm Sangwan (women’s 10m air pistol & 25m pistol) and Ganemat Sekhon (women’s skeet) have been directly selected by the ISSF as per their ISSF rankings while the rest have availed of the host country quota, basis India domestic rankings.
Seasoned shooters and Olympians Mairaj Ahmed Khan (men’s skeet) and Chain Singh (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions) will be seen representing India once again. Besides Rhythm, the other Paris Olympians in the squad include the likes of Arjun Babuta (men’s 10m air rifle), Arjun Singh Cheema (men’s 10m air pistol), Anish and Vijayveer Sidhu (men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol), Shreyasi Singh and Rajeshwari Kumari (women’s trap), Maheshwari Chauhan (women’s skeet) and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka (men’s skeet).