NRAI announces shooting squads for Asian Olympic qualifiers

NEW DELHI — The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Friday announced a 20-member rifle and pistol squad and a 12-member shotgun team for the upcoming Asian Olympic qualifiers, scheduled next month in Indonesia and Kuwait, respectively.

The squad has been selected based on current domestic rankings and only those with quotas already to their name have been left out.

Three Olympians including former men’s trap world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Gurpreet Singh in Pistol and Anjum Moudgil in Rifle make their comebacks into the Indian team.

Among senior team debutants will be Sri Karthik Sabari Raj (men’s 10m air rifle), Ujjawal Malik (men’s 10m air pistol) and Bhavya Tripathi (women’s trap).

Three shooters namely, Tilottama Sen (women’s 10m air rifle, ranked seventh), Shriyanka Sadangi (women’s 50m rifle 3 positions, ranked seventh) and Bhowneesh Mendiratta (men’s trap, ranked sixth), who are quota holders and not among the top three, have also been included in the squad to shoot in the RPO (ranking points only) category and will not be competing for medals.

Four other quota holders expressed their inability to participate in these competitions.

A total of 16 Paris 2024 Olympic games quotas will be available in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the Asian Olympic Qualification Rifle and Pistol event is scheduled between January 5-18, 2024.

As many as eight Paris spots will be up for grabs in the Asia Olympic Qualification Shotgun, scheduled in Kuwait City, Kuwait, between January 12-22, 2024.

The Indian shooting squad already has 13 quota spots won for Paris 2024 and will be looking to add to that tally in these tournaments.

In the Jakarta event, India will be looking to particularly add to their Pistol quotas, given five more are still to be won. All the eight quota places in Rifle events have already been secured.

In Kuwait, India has six quota places to aim for with all four in Skeet and a couple in Trap shooting.

Rifle squad:

10m men: Rudrankksh Patil, Arjun Babuta, Srikarthik Sabari Raj

10m women: Mehuli Ghosh, Elavenil Valarivan, Nancy, Tilottama Sen (RPO)

50m 3-position men: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale, Akhil Sheoran

50m 3-position women: Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil, Ashi Chouksey, Shriyanka Sadangi (RPO)

Pistol squad:

10m men: Arjun Singh Cheema, Varun Tomar, Ujjawal Malik

10m women: Rhythm Sangwan, Surbhi Rao, Esha Singh

25m rapid fire men: Vijayveer Sidhu, Bhavesh Shekhawat, Gurpreet Singh

25m pistol women: Esha Singh, Simranpreet Kaur Brar, Rhythm Sangwan

Trap squad:

Men: Lakshay, Zoravar Singh Sandhu, Manavjit Singh Sandhu

Women: Manisha Keer, Bhavya Tripathi, Shreyasi Singh

Skeet Squad:

Men: Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Gurjoat Khangura, Munek Battula

Women: Ganemat Sekhon, Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan

Mixed teams:

Rifle: Rudrankksh Patil and Mehuli Ghosh; Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan

Pistol: Arjun Singh Cheema and Rhythm Sangwan; Varun Tomar and Surbhi Rao

Trap: Lakshay and Manisha Keer; Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Bhavya Tripathi

Skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Ganemat Sekhon; Gurjoat Khangura and Raiza Dhillon

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