The Azerbaijani capital city, Baku is all set to host the sixth and last stage of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Series 2016. Baku also hosted the European Games in 2015 and will now organise the sixth and conclusive stage of the World Cup Series that is scheduled from 20 June to 29 June.
A total of 640 athletes from 80 nations will compete for the final 15 World Cup Gold medals of this season and will pile up 912 starts in the fifteen Olympic Shooting events. Ten of the twelve members of the Indian shooting contingent, who will represent the nation in the 2016 Rio Olympics will also participate in the World Cup starting on Tuesday.
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The Indian battalion will be spearheaded by the Beijing Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, whose event 10-metre air rifle will be on 23 June. The other members who will be in action representing the tricolour are Gagan Narang, Chain Singh, Jitu Rai, Apurvi Chandela, Prakash Nanjappa, Heena Sidhu, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Kynan Chenai and Gurpreet Singh.
Also read: Rio Olympics 2016: Abhinav Bindra chosen as India’s flag-bearer for the Games
The two shooters who opted to skip the tournament and concentrate on their training for the Games are air rifle shooter Ayonika Paul and trap shooting specialist Manavjit Singh Sandhu. While 29-year-old Sandhu will practice in Italy, the silver medalist in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Paul will be tuning up her skills in Mumbai, where a new set of electronic targets were recently inaugurated by the former BCCI president Sharad Pawar.
Thirteen new electronic targets were installed on Tuesday in Panvel, Navi Mumbai and Ayonika will be practising there with her coach Suma Shirur for the Olympics. India will field a total of 33 shooters in the tournament involving rifle, pistol and shotgun events.
The schedule for fifteen matches of the final stage of 2016 ISSF World Cup Series is as follows:
| Date | Event | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 22 June, Wednesday | Trap Women | 07:00 PM |
| 23 June, Thursday | 10m Air Pistol Women | 01:30 PM |
| 10m Air Rifle Men | 02:00 PM | |
| Trap Men | 04:30 PM | |
| 24 June, Friday | 50m Pistol Men | 01:15 PM |
| 10m Air Rifle Women | 04:14 PM | |
| 25 June, Saturday | 10m Air Pistol Men | 01:00 PM |
| 25m Pistol Women | 03:00 PM | |
| Double Trap Men | 05:45 PM | |
| 26 June, Sunday | 50m Rifle Prone Men | 12:30 PM |
| 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men | 04:30 PM | |
| 27 June, Monday | 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women | 01:30 PM |
| Skeet Women | 07:15 PM | |
| 28 June, Tuesday | 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men | 02:30 PM |
| Skeet Men | 05:15 PM |
The 15 Shooting events at the Rio Olympic are scheduled to take place from 6 August to 14 August.
