NRAI announces Indian contingent ahead of ISSF World Cup, Manu Bhaker among other Olympians left out

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has named the Indian contingent for the ISSF World Cup this year. The Shooting World Cup is scheduled to take place between February 26 and March 8 in Cairo, Egypt.

Ace shooter Manu Bhaker failed to find a place in the shooting squad for the ISSF World Cup. She bagged four gold medals and a bronze medal at the ISSF Junior World Championships held in October last year.

Apart from Manu, Olympians Apurvi Chandela, Anjum Moudgil, Abhishek Verma, Deepak Kumar and Yashaswini Deshwal also didn't find a place in the contingent. It is said that the Olympians failed to meet the selection committee's criteria.

The NRAI, while talking about the selection process, said in a statement:

"Due to COVID-19 conditions in India, the selection trials, which were scheduled to be held in January 2022, were postponed. There was no time left for conducting the trials before selection of teams for ISSF World Cup, Cairo."

Further added:

"The selection committee of the NRAI has decided to consider the Qualification score along with final ranking points of 64th National Shooting Championship Competition, to arrive at the final ranking for selection of teams for ISSF World Cup, Cairo, Egypt from 26th February to 8th March 2022."

The Indian shooting contingent will gather for a camp in New Delhi on February 9, before departing for the Egyptian capital on February 25.

Indian shooting contigent for ISSF World Cup:

24-member Indian squad for the ISSF World Cup:

50m Rifle 3 Positions Men: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Akhil Sheoran, Kiran Ankush Jadhav, Sanjeev Rajput.

10m Air Rifle Men: Divyansh Singh Panwar, Rudrankksh Balasajeb Patil, Srinjoy Datta.

25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men: Anish, Bhavesh Shekhawat, Gurpreet Singh. 10m Air Pistol Men: Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve, Saurabh Chaudhary, Gaurav Rana, Pradhyuman Singh.

50m Rifle 3 Positions Women: Sift Kaur Samra, Shriyanka Sadangi.

10m Air Rifle Women: Shreya Agrawal, Aayushi Gupta, Rajshree Sancheti.

25m Sports Pistol Women: Rhythm Sangwan, Esha Singh, Rahi Sarnobat. 10m Air Pistom Women: Esha Singh, P Shri Nivetha, Ruchita Vinerkar.

50m Rifle 3 Positions Mixed Team: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar-Sift Kaur Samra, Akhil Sheoran-Shriyanka Sadangi.

10m Air Rifle Mixed team: Divyansh Singh Panwar-Shreya Agrawa, Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil-Aayushi Gupta. 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Mixed Team: Anish-Rhythm Sangwan, Bhavesh Shekhawat-Esha Singh. 10m Air Pistol Mixed team: Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve-Esha Singh, Saurabh Chaudhary-P Shri Nivetha.