Rifle, pistol shooters to take final aim at home before busy international season

New Delhi [India], June 23 : Close to 425 of the country's top Rifle and Pistol shooters will take final aim at their immediate India dreams ahead of a busy and critical international season, when they congregate at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range in the national capital, for the Group A National Selection Trial 5 and Trial 6, scheduled between June 24 to June 30.

It is to be noted that the Indian teams for the upcoming World Championships in Baku in August and the Asian Games in September, will be announced post the conclusion of these trials, whose scores will be vital to get among the top ranks in each event.

Saturday will mainly have pre-event training before real action begins of Sunday, with as many as six finals lined up across the senior and junior categories. All top names in Indian shooting including the likes of Rahi Sarnobat, Anjum Moudgil, Manu Bhaker, Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Tomar, Divyansh Panwar, Hriday Hazarika, Mehuli Ghosh, Elavenil Valarivan, Esha Singh, Sarabjot Singh, Rhtyhm Sangwan and Divya TS among others, are expected to participate.

The all-events World Championships in Baku will have as many as 48 Paris 2024 Olympics quota places up for grabs and Shooters living their Olympic dreams, will first have to ensure they get a spot on the team, to grab one of those quotas for the country. Following the Asian Games in September, the Asian Championships are also scheduled in October in Changwon, Korea, where a further 24 quota places will be distributed.

India so far has three Paris quotas in their kitty through Bhowneesh Mendiratta (Men's Trap), Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil (10m Air Rifle Men) and Swapnil Kusale (50m Rifle 3 Positions Men), won at the World Championships held last year in Cairo. A country can win a maximum of two quota places in each of the 15 Olympic shooting disciplines. At the previous Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Indian shooters had bagged a record 15-quota places.