27 July,2024 08:47 AM IST | Chateauroux (France) | PTI
India’s Manu Bhaker during a pre-event training in France yesterday. Pic/AP; PTI
A squad full of debutants free from past baggage will aim to ace the ultimate test of their lives when the shooting competition of the Paris Olympics begins in the sleepy French town of Chateauroux on Friday.
India has won four Olympic medals in shooting out of its overall tally of 35 but none in the last two editions of the Summer Games, putting the additional pressure of expectations on the record 21-member Indian contingent based in central France.
The national shooting federation NRAI chose current form over pedigree to pick the squad for the mega event and it will be hoping they hit the bullseye at the National Shooting Centre. The athletes have been training away from the hustle and bustle of Paris and that could work in their favour come competition day. Barring Manu Bhaker, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Anjum Moudgil and Elavenil Valarivan, all will experience the biggest sporting stage for the first time. India will have representation in all 15 shooting events. Bhaker, 22, who has won a bagful of medals in world events, had a stroke of bad luck at the Tokyo Games where her weapon malfunctioned in 10m air pistol qualification and she could not recover from that setback.
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She will be taking part in three disciplines - 10m air pistol, 25m pistol and 10m pistol mixed team. Another women shooter to watch out for will be Sift Kaur Samra, who won the 50m rifle three positions gold at the Asian Games. Moudgil, one of the seasoned pros in the squad, is making a comeback and will lineup alongside Sift in the women's 50m rifle three positions. Rhythm Sangwan, 20, will be participating in two events, women's 10m air pistol alongside Bhaker and the 10m air pistol mixed team.
Among the male participants, only Tomar has been part of the Olympics before. Tomar, will be seen in the men's 50m rifle three positions alongside Swapnil Kusale.
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