DOHA, Dec 3: India’s top shooters, after a year sprinkled with major milestones and heaps of medals, will look to finish the season on a high at the elite ISSF World Cup Finals, which will commence here on Thursday.
The season-ending competition will see 14 of India’s best, including Paris Olympics double-bronze medallist pistol shooter Manu Bhaker, world champion Samrat Rana and multiple World Cup medallist Suruchi Singh, vie for the honours in a field usually restricted to the world’s top 12 shooters in the individual section in each event.
In a glorious outing for the country’s shooters on the big stage, India came up with a record-breaking show at the World Championships, held in Cairo (pistol/rifle) and Athens (shotgun), where they won 14 medals, including three gold across Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines.
They will now look to convert that success in the World Cup Final, which not just gives winners the bragging rights but also comes loaded with attractive prize money of Euro 5,000, 4,000 and 2,000 for the gold, silver and bronze medallist respectively, in each category.Two of India’s top pistol shooters, Manu and Esha Singh will be among the favourites for podium finishes in 10m air and 25m sports pistol after they made the top-12 on the basis of their ranking and performance in the World Cups and World Championship.The men’s 10m air pistol event will have the newly-crowned champion in Cairo recently, Karnal-born Samrat Rana, and Baghpat’s Varun Tomar, who took the bronze as India made history by taking two podium spots in the showpiece event.
The men’s 10m air rifle event will have former world champion Rudrankksh Patil and Arjun Babuta, who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, compete against a strong field that also has the indomitable Sheng Lihao of China, the reigning Olympic and Asian Games champion, and Hungary’s Istevan Peni.Anish Bhanwala, who won silver at the World Championship after surviving two shoot-offs, too will be on a high after winning the biggest medal of his career, while women’s 10m air rifle exponent Elavenil Valarivan will hope to continue her good form after a bronze-medal feat in Cairo.Veteran Zoravar Sandhu, who became only the third trap shooter after Karni Singh and world champion Manavjit Singh to win medal at the worlds (a bronze in Athens), will also be a leading contender after seeking training from legendary England marksman Peter Wilson, who is now India’s foreign coach.With a strong line-up, India will look to better their medal tally from the previous edition, held in New Delhi, where they won two silver and as many bronze. (PTI)
Men:
10m air pistol – Samrat Rana, Varun Tomar; 10m air rifle: Rudrankksh Patil, Arjun Babuta; 25m rapid-fire pistol – Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu; 50m rifle 3P – Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar; Trap – Zoravar Sandhu.
Women:
10m air pistol – Suruchi Singh, Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh; 10m air rifle – Elavenil Valarivan; 25m pistol – Manu Bhaker, Simranpreet Kaur, Esha Singh; 50m rifle 3P – Sift Kaur Samra.
