2nd leg of ISSF’s South American Swing set to begin in Lima
LIMA, (Peru) April 14: Indian shooters will look to maintain their impressive form when they take to the range in the ISSF World Cup beginning here from Tuesday.
The Indian team finished a creditable second in the year’s first World Cup for rifle, pistol and shotgun shooters in Buenos Aires last week.
On the first competition day in the capital city of Peru, the likes of Manu Bhaker, Suruchi and Sainyam will be in action in the women’s air pistol competition, while Saurabh Chaudhary, Varun Tomar and Ravinder will take another shot at gold in the men’s air pistol event at the Las Palmas range.
Both the men’s and women’s 10m air pistol finals are scheduled for Tuesday.
Close to 400 shooters from 43 countries, including a 35-member Indian contingent, will compete across 15 events in the three disciplines of rifle, pistol and shotgun over the next week, to establish early supremacy with the blue-riband ISSF World Championships coming up at the end of the year.
India finished second to China in the first leg which concluded last week in Argentina. The squad had won four gold and a total of eight medals.
All winners from the Argentina World Cup will be competing in Lima. Additionally, Czechia has also entered a strong squad including the likes of Jiri Privratsky, who was not present in the first leg in Argentina.
Top shooting nations like China, USA, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Chinese Taipei and Australia, will continue to have a strong presence in Lima like they had in Argentina.
Besides, the hosts have entered a large 37-member squad and other Latin American nations such as Brazil, Guatamela and Chile will be looking to take advantage of familiarity with the conditions.
The first qualifying rounds (50 targets) of the men’s and women’s skeet competitions also get underway on Tuesday, with Indian hopes pinned on Anant Jeet Singh Naruka, Bhavtegh Gill and Gurjoat Khangura in the men’s event.
Raiza Dhillon, Ganemat Sekhon and Darshna Rathore are carrying Indian hopes in the women’s skeet. (PTI)