"It is difficult to shoot high scores all the time" - National pistol coach Samresh Jung on notable absentees from India's World Shooting Championships squad

Due to a lack of steady shooting, 2020 Tokyo Olympian and ace pistol shooter Saurabh Chaudhary of Uttar Pradesh failed to make the national squad for the Cairo World Shooting Championships scheduled to be held in Egypt in October.

“Saurabh has been shooting moderate scores, which is why he couldn’t make it to the national team for the Egyptian World Shooting Championships, which has quota places for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games,” Samresh Jung, national pistol coach, told Sportskeeda on Friday.

According to Jung, the 2018 Asian Games champion in men’s 10m air pistol, Chaudhary, 20, will take time to recover and should bounce back.

“He (Chaudhary) has been India’s leading 10m air pistol shooter since 2015. It is difficult to shoot high scores all the time. He has matured and will take some time to come-back,” Jung added.

For the record, Chaudhary was the favorite to win a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held last year in Japan. Unfortunately, he missed the podium finish. The Indian shooting continent in fact returned empty-handed from Japan.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) announced the 48-member rifle and pistol team for the October 12 to 25 World Shooting Championships on Friday. Olympian pistol shooter Abhishek Verma was another notable absentee from the team.

“Abhishek didn’t shoot good scores in the national championships and missed the trials. He will have to wait to perform in the next national championships and earn a place in the national team,” Jung explained.

Rajasthan’s Olympic rifle shooter Apurvi Chandela is also out of the Egyptian World Shooting Championships. Apurvi’s coach Rakesh Manpat said she was scoring better than last year but couldn’t make the team.

“She should be able to further improve her scores in 2023 and cement her place in the national team,” Manpat added.

Post the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the NRAI changed its selection policy. The previous policy aimed at four best scores out of five. As per the new selection policy, scores from each competition or national selection trials will count to earn a place in the Indian team, said a senior pistol coach.

The Indian team will compete in individual, team and mixed team events in both the senior and junior sections.

India's squad for Shooting World Championships

Men's Senior:

50m rifle 3 positions: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Suresh Kusale, Niraj Kumar.

10m air rifle: Arjun Babuta, Kiran Ankush Jadhav, Rudranksh Balasaheb Patil.

25m rapid fire pistol: Anish, Vijayveer Sidhu, Vijay Kumar. 10m air pistol: Shiva Narwal, Naveen, Vijayveer Sidhu.

Women's Senior:

50m rifle 3 positions: Anjum Moudgil, Sift Kaur Samra, Ashi Chouksey.

10m air rifle: Mehuli Ghosh, Elavenil Valarivan, Meghana Sajjanar.

25m sports pistol: Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan, Abhidnya Ashok Patil.

10m air pistol: Yuvika Tomar, Rhythm Sangwan, Palak.

Men's Junior:

50m rifle 3 positions: Pankaj Mukheja, Surya Pratap Singh, Sartaj Singh Tiwana.

10m air rifle: Divyansh Singh Panwar, Sri Karthik Sabari Raj, Vidit Jain.

25m rapid fire pistol: Sameer, Adarsh Singh, Udhayveer Sidhu. 10m air pistol: Samrat Rana,Sarabjot Singh, Sagar Dangi.

Women's Junior:

50m rifle 3 positions: Nischal, Nupur Kumrawat, Nikita Kundu.

10m air rifle: Ramita, Nancy, Tilottama Sen.

25m sports pistol: Esha Singh, Naamya Kapoor, Vibhuti Bhatia.

10m air pistol: Esha Singh, Shika Narwal, Varsha Singh.