NRAI felicitates World Cup toppers

Top Indian shooters Anjum Moudgil, Sanjeev Rajput, Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker were present at the felicitation ceremony.

 Shooters, coaches and officials pose for a photograph at a felicitation function in Delhi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) felicitated the shooters who had helped the Indian team top the medals table in the recent World Cup in Changwon, Korea, and the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.

Some of the prominent shooters present at the function were Anjum Moudgil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Sanjeev Rajput, Saurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker, Arjun Babuta, Shahu Tushar Mane, Naamya Kapoor, Vivaan Kapoor, Vijayveer Sidhu, Rhythm Sangwan, Palak Ghulia and Shiva Narwal.

The coaches were also felicitated including the two foreign coaches for rifle and pistol, Thomas Farnik and Munkhbayar Dorjsuren. The Indian coaches Samaresh Jung, Suma Shirur, Joydeep Karmakar, Vikram Chopra, Manoj Kumar, Satguru Das also received the token of appreciation, apart from a host of support staff.

Some of the shooters like World Cup gold medallist Mairaj Ahmad Khan could not attend owing to the ongoing selection trials in Jaipur.

The president of NRAI, Raninder Singh was not present, as he was attending to the health of his father, the former chief minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh.

The secretary general of NRAI, Sultan Singh congratulated the shooters and assured all the support from the national federation and the government.

Accepting that the training could be hard in the national camps as the coaches groom the shooters to world standards, he said, ’’you have to go through the fire and be ready to face the pressure. Be cool, be consistent and be truthful to yourself’’.

In the World Cup in Korea, India had topped the medals table with five gold, six silver and four bronze medals. Host Korea was a close second with four gold, five silver and three bronze medals, among the 19 teams that figured in the medals table.

In the Junior World Cup in Germany, India had topped the table with 18 gold, 20 silver and eight bronze medals, for a total of 48. The second best team was Italy with four gold, two silver and five bronze.

Appreciating the efforts of the shooters, the senior vice president of NRAI, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said that the focus remained the Olympic medal, rather the Olympic gold.