India name 15-member squad in shooting for the Tokyo Olympic Games


India name 15-member squad in shooting for the Tokyo Olympic Games

Shooting (Representational Image)

India have named 15 shooters in their squad for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games which will take place in July. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) announced the news and chose to name a strong contingent for the postponed games. The selection committee met reportedly for five hours today in the afternoon following which they zeroed in on the final 15 names for the Games.

“The National selection committee’s main focus was to select the strongest squad for the Games and to ensure that the most consistent performers in each event, during the Olympic cycle, do not miss out. We are confident that this selection will deliver,” the president of NRAI, Raninder Singh said in a statement.

Elavenil Valarivan gets picked; Manu Bhaker names in three events

Elavenil Valarivan
Elavenil Valarivan

Out of the 15, World No. 1 in air rifle Elavenil Valarivan has been picked while silver medalist at the World Championships, Anjum Moudgil has missed out. Further, in the women’s 25-metre sports pistol event, Chinki Yadav‘s quota has been swapped with Moudgil instead, meaning that she makes the cut along with Tejaswini Sawant in 50m Rifle 3P.

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Valarivan will also join Divyansh Singh Panwar in the mixed air rifle event. Manu Bhaker has found a place in as many as three events as she will take part in the air pistol and sports pistol as well as the mixed air pistol event (with Saurabh Chaudhary). Apurvi Chandela will take part in the air rifle event.

Meanwhile, reserve shooters have also been named due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The full squad:

EventParticipants
Men’s 10 m air rifleDivyansh Singh Panwar, Deepak Kumar
Men’s 50m rifle 3-positionSanjeev Rajput, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar
Men’s 10m air pistolSaurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma
Men’s SkeetAngad Vir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmad Khan
Women’s 10m air rifleApurvi Chandela, Elavenil Valarivan
Women’s 50m rifle 3-positionAnjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant
Women’s 10m air pistolManu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal
Women’s 25m sports pistolRahi Sarnobat, Manu Bhaker
Mixed 10m air rifleDivyansh Singh Panwar, Elavenil Valarivan; Deepak Kumar, Anjum Moudgil
Mixed 10m air pistolSaurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker; Abhishek Verma, Yashaswini Singh Deswal

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