A 28-member Indian team will aim to add to the three Olympic quota places at the World Cup beginning in Beijing on Tuesday.
The young Saurabh Chaudhary, Asian Games air pistol champion, Youth Olympics champion and the World junior champion, was the only one to win the Olympic quota in the World Cup at home in February. Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela had won the quota in women’s air rifle in the World Championship last year.
The opening day’s competition will feature women’s air rifle, which would only add to the competitive exposure for Anjum, Apurvi, Elavenil Valarivan, and the MQS shooter Mehuli Ghosh, as a country cannot win more than two Olympic quotas in any event.
The focus, from the Indian perspective, will be on Wednesday when the finals of the women’s air pistol and men’s 50-metre rifle 3-position shooters take place.
Manu Bhaker will be the one to watch out for as the 12th standard student is the No. 1 in both air pistol and the 25-metre sports pistol. With two-time Olympian and former World record holder Heena Sidhu, apart from Yashaswini Deswal also in the line-up, India has a realistic chance of striking it hot in women’s air pistol.
Olympians Sanjeev Rajput and Chain Singh, apart from Parul Kumar, will attempt to make the rifle 3-position event memorable. The mixed air rifle and air pistol finals will be held on Thursday, giving a chance for the Indian shooters to be better prepared for the new Olympic event even though there will be no quotas available.
Ravi Kumar, Deepak Kumar and Divyansh Singh Panwar will be in line to win the Olympic quota place in men’s air rifle on Friday. More significantly, the 25-metre rapid fire pistol shooters will have a better chance for a quota place — three will be on offer unlike two in all other events.
Enhancing the prospects
In men’s air pistol, in which Saurabh will be fielded in the MQS event to enhance the chances of a second Indian winning the Olympic quota, the onus will be on World Cup gold medallist Shahzar Rizvi, Asian Games bronze medallist Abhishek Verma and World junior champion Arjun Singh Cheema to cash in on the opportunity.
The World Cup will close with the finals in women’s 25-metre sports pistol and the 50-metre rifle 3-position events on Sunday. Asian Games gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat, apart from Manu Bhaker and Chinki Yadav, will compete in the pistol event.