A squad full of debutants aims to excel as the shooting competition of the Paris Olympics begins in Chateauroux, France, on Friday.
India has won four Olympic medals in shooting out of its overall tally of 35, but none in the last two editions of the Summer Games. This places additional pressure on the 21-member Indian contingent in central France.
The national shooting federation NRAI chose current form over pedigree for the squad selection. It hopes the team will perform well at the National Shooting Centre. Even the quota winners had to compete in trials, with the inexperienced Sandeep Singh surpassing 2022 world champion Rudranksh Patil, who had secured India's quota in the 10m air rifle.
Patil wrote to NRAI proposing his selection despite finishing behind Sandeep in the trials, but the federation did not change its decision. The athletes have been training away from Paris, which might be advantageous during the competition. Except for Manu Bhaker, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Anjum Moudgil, and Elavenil Valarivan, all will be experiencing the Olympics for the first time. India will compete in all 15 shooting events.
Luck also plays a role in Olympic performance. Bhaker, 22, who has won many medals in world events, faced bad luck at the Tokyo Games when her weapon malfunctioned in the 10m air pistol qualification. She will compete in three disciplines – 10m air pistol, 25m pistol, and 10m pistol mixed team.
India's main competition will come from China, which is also fielding 21 shooters. Another notable shooter is Sift Kaur Samra, who won the 50m rifle three positions gold at the Asian Games. Moudgil, making a comeback, will compete with Sift in the women's 50m rifle three positions.
Rhythm Sangwan, 20, will participate in the women's 10m air pistol alongside Bhaker and the 10m air pistol mixed team. "The preparation has been going good. The range is beautiful. I was a little upset staying away from the main village in Paris. It is not as I expected but I am here for the competition and win and not pass any comments on the Games Village. Olympics is the biggest stage out here," said Sangwan.
Among the male participants, only Tomar has previous Olympic experience. Tomar, a member of the gold-winning team at the 2023 World Championships, will compete in the men's 50m rifle three positions with Swapnil Kusale. Male debutants with decent international experience include Anish Bhanwala, Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Babuta, Arjun Singh Cheema, and Vijayveer Singh.
Gagan Narang, the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist and India's chef de mission, supports the shooters to end the medal drought. “My first Olympic experience was in 2004 and I remember at that time, we were not as confident as we are today. There is genuine belief that we are at par with the best in the world,” said Narang.
Full squad
Rifle:
- Men's 10m air rifle: Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta
- Women's 10m air rifle: Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita Jindal
- Women's 50m rifle 3 positions: Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil
- Men's 50m rifle 3 positions: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale
- 10m air rifle mixed team: Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan, Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal
Pistol:
- Men's 10m air pistol: Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema
- Women's 10m air pistol: Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan
- Men's 25m rapid fire pistol: Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu
- Women's 25m pistol: Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh
- 10m air pistol mixed team: Sarabjot Singh/Manu Bhaker, Arjun Singh Cheema/Rhythm Sangwan
Shotgun:
- Men's trap: Prithviraj Tondaiman
- Women's trap: Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh
- Men's skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka
- Women's skeet: Maheshwari Chauhan, Raiza Dhillon
- Skeet mixed team: Anantjeet Singh Naruka/Maheshwari Chauhan
