New Delhi: The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the governing body for the Olympic sport of shooting, has announced a 22-member Indian squad for the upcoming International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol, to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from May 08- May 15.
This would be the year’s fourth ISSF World Cup stage after the third was successfully concluded recently in Bhopal. The fourth will be held from April 11 in Lima, Peru, where India has chosen not to participate.
Shahu Tushar Mane in the men’s 10m Air Rifle and Shiva Narwal in the men’s 10m Air Pistol are the two new names in the squad from the Bhopal World Cup, the NRAI said in a release on Friday.
Shahu, after posting a solid 630.7 in Bhopal when playing for ranking points only, replaced Divyansh Singh Panwar in the top three when the latest rankings were revealed.
Shiva Narwal also posted a score of 585 in Bhopal while playing for ranking points, which was incidentally also the top qualifying score in the event. He replaces Sumit Raman in the squad.
In another slight change, Esha Singh replaced Manu Bhaker in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event, also doubling up in the women’s 25m pistol. Bhopal bronze medallist Manu will only shoot the 25m event in Baku.
All Rifle and Pistol shooters are now preparing for the national selection trials coming up in Bhopal in two weeks.
(IANS)
