On Tuesday the National Rifle Association of India announced a 15-member Indian rifle and pistol squad for the Paris Olympics 2024.
The only athlete who will compete in more than one individual event is Manu Bhaker, a two-time Olympian women in 25-meter pistol and 10-meter air pistol event.
Eight shooters on the rifle squad and seven shooters on the pistol team are now at a camp in Volmerange-Les-Mines with the coaches and support personnel.
Several top shooters, including Paris Olympic 2024 quota winners Varun Tomar, Tilottama Sen, and Shriyanka Sadangi, as well as World Champion Rudrankksh Patil, silver medallist Mehuli Ghosh, and bronze medallist Akhil Sehoran, missed the cut.
Senior Vice President of the NRAI Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo stated, “The selection committee met and pondered at length. We believe that, after careful consideration, we have chosen the greatest squad now regarding talent and adherence to the policy. We are sure that everything is set up so that the squad can perform. A few exceptionally skilled shooters are not on the team due to our depth in rifle and pistol. They will, nevertheless, have an opportunity to recover. We wish the team all the best.
K Sultan Singh, Secretary General of the NRAI, stated, “The team is in good form and battle ready, consisting of up to four Olympians and other senior shooters, as well as a lot of extremely promising, confident, and matured young talent.” Under the direction and assistance of the entire HPD training team, as well as international and national coaches, the sports science team, physiotherapists, and others, they have been training extremely methodically for a considerable amount of time. Their singular, unwavering goal has been to place well on the podium. We do not doubt that the group will bring great pride to the country in Paris Olympics 2024.
India has qualified for the next Olympic Games with a record 21 quotas in shooting. India will have a record five starts in the four individual shotgun events in addition to having all 16 opportunities to win a medal in the eight individual rifle and pistol events.
India will also field five mixed teams: one shotgun team, one rifle team, and one pistol team.
Soon after the ongoing Lonato International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup, the Shotgun team will also be announced.
Following ISSF regulations, NRAI will also try to swap the extra women’s pistol quota spot for the women’s trap quota, which became available as a result of Manu attending two events.
The Indian team for the Paris Olympics 2024 in rifle and pistol:
The #Shooting🔫 line-up is *READY*!!
Presenting the confirmed 🇮🇳 Rifle and Pistol squad for #ParisOlympics2024🥳#Cheer4India 💪🫶@arjunbabuta @SiftSamra @pratap1190 @elavalarivan @AnjumMoudgil @Sarabjotsingh30 @realmanubhaker @SangwanRhythm @singhesha10 @ImAnishBhanwala… pic.twitter.com/LCV1cNXDGe
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) June 11, 2024
| Event | Athletes |
|---|
| Rifle |
| 10m Air Rifle Men | Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta |
| 10m Air Rifle Women | Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita |
| 50m Rifle 3 Positions W | Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil |
| 50m Rifle 3 Positions M | Aishwary Tomar, Swapnil Kusale |
| Pistol |
| 10m Air Pistol Men | Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema |
| 10m Air Pistol Women | Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan |
| 25m RFP Men | Anish Bhanwal, Vijayveer Sidhu |
| 25m Pistol Women | Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh |
