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
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.
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:
| Event | Participants |
| Men’s 10 m air rifle | Divyansh Singh Panwar, Deepak Kumar |
| Men’s 50m rifle 3-position | Sanjeev Rajput, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar |
| Men’s 10m air pistol | Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma |
| Men’s Skeet | Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmad Khan |
| Women’s 10m air rifle | Apurvi Chandela, Elavenil Valarivan |
| Women’s 50m rifle 3-position | Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant |
| Women’s 10m air pistol | Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal |
| Women’s 25m sports pistol | Rahi Sarnobat, Manu Bhaker |
| Mixed 10m air rifle | Divyansh Singh Panwar, Elavenil Valarivan; Deepak Kumar, Anjum Moudgil |
| Mixed 10m air pistol | Saurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker; Abhishek Verma, Yashaswini Singh Deswal |
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