NRAI announces 32-member core group to train for Tokyo Olympics

The 15 shooters who won the Olympic quota have been clubbed with two additional shooters in each of the events.

Anjum Moudgil figures in two events - the 50m rifle 3-position, and the 10m air rifle.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has announced a 32-member core group of shooters to train for the Tokyo Olympics.

The 15 shooters who won the Olympic quota have been clubbed with two additional shooters in each of the events. There are also two rapid-fire shooters selected for training even though India has not won an Olympic quota in the event as yet. There is still scope of getting the Olympic quota in rapid-fire pistol through the world rank.

Only Anjum Moudgil and Manu Bhaker figure in two events each, as both are top class in an event apart from the one in which they have won the Olympic quota. Only Apurvi Chandela and Mairaj Ahmad Khan have stayed on course after competing in the Rio Olympics, to first win the Olympic quota for Tokyo and then stay in the race.

Of course, Sanjeev Rajput had competed in the Beijing and London Olympics, but was unlucky to miss the Rio Games despite having won the Olympic quota. Rahi Sarnobat and Annu Raj Singh had participated in the London Games.

Mehuli misses out

Mehuli Ghosh in women’s air rifle narrowly missed out on getting into the core group. She is behind the three global leaders in the event: Anjum Moudgil, Apurvi Chandela and Elavenil Valarivan.

The National federation, which formed the core group in consultation with the coaches, is scheduled to release the training scheme soon.

• 50m rifle 3-position: Aishwar Pratap Singh Tomar, Sanjeev Rajput, Parul Kumar, Swapnil Kusale.
• 10m air rifle: Deepak Kumar, Divyansh Singh Panwar, Pankaj Singh, Sandeep Singh.
• 25m rapid fire pistol: Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Singh Sidhu.
• 10m air pistol: Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma, Om Prakash Mitharwal, Shahzar Rizvi.
• Skeet: Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Gurjoat Singh, Sheeraz Sheikh.

• 50m rifle 3-position: Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant, Gaayathri NIthyanandam, Sunidhi Chauhan.
• 10m air rifle: Anjum Moudgil, Apurvi Chandela, Elavenil Valarivan, Shreya Agarwal.
• 25m sports pistol: Rahi Sarnobat, Chinki Yadav, Manu Bhaker, Abhidnya Patil.
• 10m air pistol: Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal, Annu Raj Singh, Esha Singh.