The Indian shooting team, which features Olympic and World Cup medal winners, will be looking to dominate the proceedings at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Indian shooters had literally trounced their opponents during the 2010 Games at Delhi by winning 14 gold, 11 silver and 5 bronze.
Going into the 2014 Games, the major positive is that a good number of the medal winners of the previous edition are still integral members of the Indian shooting contingent. Secondly, many of them have peaked in the four year period by winning medals at London 2012 Olympics and various World Cups.
The only setback for the Indian team is that the number of events have been cut down from 36 to 19 by removing all pair events, and this will surely reduce some of the potential medals for India. The shooting events will begin on 25th July and end on the 29th.
Rifle / Pistol
India's strength lies in rifle / pistol events which will see the participation of triple medal winners at Olympics, World Cup and Asian Championships – Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar, reigning World No. 1’s Heena Sidhu and Jitu Rai and World Cup medalists Rahi Sarnobat, Lajja Gauswami, Sanjeev Rajput, Ayonika Paul , Joydeep Karmakar and Prakash Nanjappa.
Following are the members of Indian rifle / pistol team at this year’s CWG along with the events they are competing in. Names and events are followed by some of their major achievements:
1. Abhinav Bindra – 10m Air Rifle Men
Gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Gold at Asian Championship, Doha 2012. Gold in pairs and silver in singles at Delhi CWG 2010.
2. Vijay Kumar – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men
Silver medalist at the 2012 London Olympics. Silver at Fort Benning, 2011 and Beijing, 2009 World Cups. Gold at Asian Championship Doha, 2012. 3 gold and 1 silver at Delhi CWG 2010.
3. Heena Sidhu – 10m Air Pistol Women
Gold at Munich,2013. Silver at Fort Benning, 2014 and Beijing, 2009 World Cups. Gold at Asian Championship, 2014 at Kuwait. Gold in pairs and silver in singles at Delhi CWG 2010.
4. Jitu Rai – 10m Air Pistol Men
Gold in 10m Air Pistol and Silver in 50m Pistol at Maribor, 2014 and Silver in 10m at Munich, 2014 World Cups.
5. Rahi Sharnobat – 25m Pistol Women
Gold at Changwon, 2013 and bronze at Fort Benning, 2011 World Cups. Gold in pairs and Silver in singles at Delhi CWG 2010.
6. Gagan Narang – 50m Rifle Prone Men, 50m Rifle 3 Positions
Bronze medalist at 2012 London Olympics in 10m Air Rifle Event. Bronze at 2010 Munich World Cup. Gold at Changwon, 2009 and Guangzhou, 2006 World Cups. 4 gold medals at Delhi CWG 2010 (10m and 50m – 3P singles and pairs).
7. Lajja Gauswami – 50m Rifle Prone Women, 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women
Silver in 3 position event at ISSF World Cup, 2013 in Granada, Spain. Silver in 6th Asian Airgun Championship, 2013 in Tehran. Silver medalist at Delhi CWG 2010.
8. Anisa Sayyed – 25m Pistol Women
Member of Indian team at several World Cups. 2 gold - singles and pairs – at Delhi CWG 2010.
?9. Sanjeev Rajput – 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
Gold at the Changwon, 2011 and silver at Sydney, 2010 World Cups. Gold at Asian Championships at Tehran, 2013 and Doha, 2012.
10. Ayonika Paul – 10m Air Rifle Women
Bronze at Maribor, 2014 World Cup and Asian Championship at Kuwait, 2011.
11. Apurvi Chandela – 10m Air Rifle Women
Represented India at several World Cups and Asian Championships.
?12. Joydeep Karmakar – 50m Rifle Prone Men
Silver at 2010 Sydney World Cup. 4th place finish at the 2012 London Olympics.
?13. Prakash Nanjappa – 10m Air Pistol Men, 50m Pistol Men
Bronze at Changwon, 2013 World Cup. Silver in 50m Pistol at 6th Asian Airgun Championship, 2013 at Tehran.
14. Harpreet Singh – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men
Represented India at Several World Cups and Asian Championships. Gold in pairs and singles at Delhi CWG 2010.
13. Meena Kumari – 50m Rifle Prone Women
4th in Changwon, 2009 World Cup. Bronze in pairs at Delhi CWG 2010.
14. Malaika Goel – 10m Air Pistol Women
Gold in Asian Youth Championship, Tehran 2013.
15. Elizabeth Susan Koshy – 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women
Represented India at several World Cups and Asian Championships.
16. Om Prakash – 10m Air Pistol Men
Represented India in several World Cups.
17. Ravi Kumar – 10m Air Rifle Men
Represented India at several World Cups and Asian Championships.
18. Gurpal Singh – 50m Pistol Men
Represented India in several World Cups.
Shotgun
India's major pillars of strength in shotgun events will be the experienced duo of Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Mansher Singh. Though the services of Ronjan Sodhi will be missed at Glasgow, India will be featuring several emerging shooters. Following are the members of Indian team, the events they are participating in and their major achievements:
1. Manavjit Singh Sandhu – Trap Men
Gold at Tucson, 2014, Acupalco, 2010 and Zagreb, 2006 World Cups. Gold at Asian Championships at Doha, 2012. Gold at Commonwealth games 1998. Bronze in singles and silver in pairs at Delhi CWG 2010.
2. Mansher Singh – Trap Men
Bronze at Delhi, 1997 World Cup. Gold at Asian Championship, Kuala Lumpur, 2011. Gold in team event at Asian Shotgun Championship 2013 in Kazakhstan. Silver in trap pairs at Delhi CWG 2010.
3. Seema Tomar – Trap Women
Silver at Dorset, 2010 World Cup.
4. Shreyasi Singh – Trap Women, Double Trap Women
Represented India at several World Cups and Asian Championships. Silver at Asian Junior Championship - Jaipur, 2008
5. Mohammad Ashab – Double Trap Men
Represented India at several World Cups and Asian Championships. Silver at Asian Junior Championship at Kuwait, 2007.
6. Arti Singh Rao – Skeet Women
Gold at Bangkok, 2005 and silver at Almaty, 2009 Asian Championships
7. Varsha Varman – Double Trap Women
Represented the country at London 2012 Olympics and several World Cups.
8. Ankur Mittal – Double Trap Men
Represented India at several World Cups and Asian Championships.
9. Mairaj Ahmad Khan – Skeet Men
Represented India at several World Cups and Asian Championships.
10. Baba Prithviraj Singh Bedi – Skeet Men
Represented India at several World Cups and Asian Championships.
Schedule
The schedule of competition for Indian shooters is as follows:
25th July
10m Air Rifle Men – Abhinav Bindra, Ravi Kumar
10m Air Pistol Women – Heena Sidhu, Malaika Goel
Skeet Women – Arti Singh Rao
Skeet Men – Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Baba Prithviraj Singh Bedi
26th July
25m Pistol Women – Rahi Sarnobat, Anisa Sayyed
10m Air Rifle Women – Ayonika Paul, Apurvi Chandela
10m Air Pistol Men – Prakash Nanjappa, Om Prakash
27th July
Double Trap Men – Mohammad Ashab , Ankur Mittal
Double Trap Women - Shreyasi Singh, Varsha Varman
28th July
50m Rifle Prone Men – Gagan Narang, Joydeep Karmakar
50m Rifle Prone Women – Lajja Gauswami , Meena Kumari
50m Pistol Men – Jitu Rai, Gurpal Singh
25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men – Vijay Kumar, Harpreet Singh
Trap Women – Shreyasi Singh, Seema Tomar
Trap Men – Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Mansher Singh
29th July
50m Rifle 3 Positions Men – Gagan Narang , Sanjeev Rajput
50m Rifle 3 Positions Women – Lajja Gauswami, Elizabeth Susan Koshy