Indian shooting squad heads to Asian Games 2023 in an upbeat mood

The mood in the Indian shooting squad for the 2023 Asian Games is upbeat, according to Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, the senior vice president of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

NRAI is sending a 33-member shooting squad for the quadrennial in Hangzhou, China. On Sunday, September 17, members of the team, including coaches and support staff, took part in a ‘media day’ organised by NRAI at the DR Karni Singh Shooting Range.

Speaking to the media, Kalikesh Narayan stated his happiness at the shooting contingent securing four Olympic berths at the recently concluded Shooting World Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“The squad has just delivered one of the best ever performances in a World Championship, with their showing in Baku, where we won as many as four Olympic quotas,” he said. (via ANI)

India finished second at the Shooting World Championship with six gold and eight bronze medals. Sift Kaur Samra (women’s 50m rifle 3 positions), Akhil Sheoran (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions), Mehuli Ghosh (women’s 10m air rifle), and Rajeshwari Kumari (women's trap) obtained Olympic quotas for India in Baku.

Kalikesh Narayan further said that the shooting contingent heading to Hangzhou has undergone throughout preparations and is expected to perform well.

“I know that all the coaches and the high-performance team have worked very hard in the camp and have prepared our shooters well for the Hangzhou Asiad. We have huge confidence in our talented shooters and expect a very good performance from them in Hangzhou,” he added.

The shooting events at the Asian Games are scheduled from September 24 to October 1, with India competing in 27 disciplines (individual, team, and mixed) in the Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun categories.

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Indian shooting squad for Asian Games 2023

Men

10m air rifle: Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Divyansh Singh Panwar

50m rifle 3 positions: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale, Akhil Sheoran

10m air pistol: Arjun Singh Cheema, Shiva Narwal, Sarabjot Singh

25m rapid fire pistol: Anish, Vijayveer Sidhu, Adarsh Singh

Skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Gurjoat Singh Khangura, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa

Trap: Kynan Chenai, Prithviraj Toindaman, Zoravar Singh Sandhu

Women

10m air rifle: Ashi Chouksey, Mehuli Ghosh, Ramita

50m rifle 3 positions: Sift Kaur Samra, Manini Kaushik, Ashi Chouksey

10m air pistol: Divya TS, Palak, Esha Singh

25m sports pistol: Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan, Esha Singh

Skeet: Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Ganemat Sekhon, Darshna Rathore

Women’s trap: Rajeshwari Kumari, Manisha Keer, Preeti Rajak

Mixed team

Air rifle: Divyansh Singh Panwar, Ramita, Mehuli Ghosh, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar

Air pistol: Sarabjot Singh, Divya TS, Esha Singh, Shiva Narwal

Skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Ganemat Sekhon, Gurjoat Singh Khangura