NEW DELHI: Top Indian shooters Jitu Rai, Gagan Narang and Apurvi Chandela were named in the nation's 27-member squad for the impending Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold Coast, Australia.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) introduced the whole quota of 27 shooters (25 men and 12 girls) after the Organising Committee of the Games lowered the country quotas throughout sports.
India had fielded 30 shooters in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and bagged 17 medals (4 Gold, 9 Silver, 4 Bronze).
Though many of the disciplines can be held in Gold Coast, capturing can be held on the Belmont Shooting Centre in Brisbane from April eight to 14. There can be 9 men's and eight girls's events in the 3 disciplines of rifle, pistol and shotgun.
Besides Rai and Narang, other best shooters amongst men include Sanjeev Rajput, Manvjit Singh Sandhu and Mohammed Asab.
In the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Rai had gained a gold in the men's 50m pistol event whilst Narang had bagged a silver and a bronze in the 50m rifle prone and 50m rifle 3 position events.
Among girls, skilled Heena Sidhu, promising youngsters Mehuli Ghosh and Manu Bhakar have also been named together with Chandela.
Chandel had gained a gold in girls's 10m Air Rifle event in Glasgow.
"We have gone strictly by performance and merit as usual. For the Commonwealth Games, given the reduced quotas it was tough to have to leave out a few shooters who had shot consistently well over the considered period and we went for consistent top ranks across multiple events," NRAI President Raninder Singh stated.
"We believe we have a quality squad to match up and even better our performances of yesteryears. There are some exciting and extremely talented youngsters who will rub shoulders with established seniors and I am sure they will come out better with the experience," he stated.
The NRAI also named squads for the six International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup levels of this 12 months.
The junior shooters who've made it to the Commonwealth Games squad have not been selected for the Junior World Cups in view of the significance attached to the CWG.
The Squad:
Men (15):
50m Rifle 3 Position: Sanjeev Rajput, Chain Singh
50m Rifle Prone: Chain Singh, Gagan Narang
10m Air Rifle: Ravi Kumar, Deepak Kumar
25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Anish, Neeraj Kumar
50m Free Pistol: Jitu Rai, Om Prakash Mitharwal
10m Air Pistol: Jitu Rai, Om Prakash Mitharwal
Trap: Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Kynan Chenai
Double Trap: Mohd Asab, Ankur Mittal
Skeet: Smit Singh, Sheeraj Sheikh
Women (12):
50m Rifle 3 Position: Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant
50m Rifle Prone: Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant
10m Air Rifle: Apurvi Chandela, Mehuli Ghosh
25m Sports Pistol: Heena Sidhu, Annuraj Singh
10m Air Pistol: Heena Sidhu, Manu Bhaker
Trap: Shreyasi Singh, Seema Tomar
Double Trap: Shreyasi Singh, Varsha Varman
Skeet: Saniya Sheikh, Maheshwari Chauhan.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) introduced the whole quota of 27 shooters (25 men and 12 girls) after the Organising Committee of the Games lowered the country quotas throughout sports.
India had fielded 30 shooters in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and bagged 17 medals (4 Gold, 9 Silver, 4 Bronze).
Though many of the disciplines can be held in Gold Coast, capturing can be held on the Belmont Shooting Centre in Brisbane from April eight to 14. There can be 9 men's and eight girls's events in the 3 disciplines of rifle, pistol and shotgun.
Besides Rai and Narang, other best shooters amongst men include Sanjeev Rajput, Manvjit Singh Sandhu and Mohammed Asab.
In the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Rai had gained a gold in the men's 50m pistol event whilst Narang had bagged a silver and a bronze in the 50m rifle prone and 50m rifle 3 position events.
Among girls, skilled Heena Sidhu, promising youngsters Mehuli Ghosh and Manu Bhakar have also been named together with Chandela.
Chandel had gained a gold in girls's 10m Air Rifle event in Glasgow.
"We have gone strictly by performance and merit as usual. For the Commonwealth Games, given the reduced quotas it was tough to have to leave out a few shooters who had shot consistently well over the considered period and we went for consistent top ranks across multiple events," NRAI President Raninder Singh stated.
"We believe we have a quality squad to match up and even better our performances of yesteryears. There are some exciting and extremely talented youngsters who will rub shoulders with established seniors and I am sure they will come out better with the experience," he stated.
The NRAI also named squads for the six International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup levels of this 12 months.
The junior shooters who've made it to the Commonwealth Games squad have not been selected for the Junior World Cups in view of the significance attached to the CWG.
The Squad:
Men (15):
50m Rifle 3 Position: Sanjeev Rajput, Chain Singh
50m Rifle Prone: Chain Singh, Gagan Narang
10m Air Rifle: Ravi Kumar, Deepak Kumar
25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Anish, Neeraj Kumar
50m Free Pistol: Jitu Rai, Om Prakash Mitharwal
10m Air Pistol: Jitu Rai, Om Prakash Mitharwal
Trap: Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Kynan Chenai
Double Trap: Mohd Asab, Ankur Mittal
Skeet: Smit Singh, Sheeraj Sheikh
Women (12):
50m Rifle 3 Position: Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant
50m Rifle Prone: Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant
10m Air Rifle: Apurvi Chandela, Mehuli Ghosh
25m Sports Pistol: Heena Sidhu, Annuraj Singh
10m Air Pistol: Heena Sidhu, Manu Bhaker
Trap: Shreyasi Singh, Seema Tomar
Double Trap: Shreyasi Singh, Varsha Varman
Skeet: Saniya Sheikh, Maheshwari Chauhan.
Rai, Narang, Chandela among 27 Indian shooters named for CWG
![Rai, Narang, Chandela among 27 Indian shooters named for CWG]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
January 30, 2018
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