India’s top rifle and pistol shooters will be seen in action during week-long national selection trials

India’s cream of rifle and pistol shooters will be seen in action at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Ranges for the national selection trials from Saturday. The selection trials are being conducted by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for the upcoming World Shooting Championship.

They are scheduled to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in August and Hangzhou Asian Games in September.

The World Championship is the most important competition of this year as it provides as many as 48 slots for qualification to the Paris Olympic Games. The quotas are for the country and not an individual.

Each participating nation is eligible to earn a maximum of two quota places in each of the 15 Olympic shooting disciplines.

Rahi Sarnobat

During the week-long national selection trials, more than 400 aspiring shooters, including Olympic pistol shooter Manu Bhaker, are expected to showcase their talent.

Saturday will see pre-event training, while the real action begins on Sunday. Pistol shooter Rahi Sarnobat, rifle shooter Anjum Moudgil, and Rudrankksh Patil are some of the prominent names who have confirmed their participation.

After the World Championship and Asian Games, the continental championship scheduled to be held in October in Changwon, Korea, also offers 24 quota places.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games held in 2021 in Japan, the Indian shooting contingent qualified for a record 15 spots. But all the shooters failed to impress and returned empty-handed from the Olympics.

Three Indian shooters earned the 2024 Paris Olympic Games quota places during the 2022 World Championship held in Cairo, Egypt. These shooters are Bhowneesh Mendiratta (men's trap), Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil (men's 10m air rifle), and Swapnil Kusale (men's 50m rifle 3 positions).