Saurabh Chaudhary & Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma & Yashaswini Deswal in 10m air pistol mixed event shooting at Olympics 2021: Preview, rankings, and predictions

The air pistol shooters of the Indian Shooting team will be in action in the 10m air pistol mixed event at Olympics 2021 on 27th July, Tuesday. Saurabh Chaudhary will combine with Manu Bhaker while Abhishek Verma will pair up with Yashaswini Deswal for the event

Saurabh Chaudhary is ranked World No.2 in men’s 10m air pistol discipline. Saurabh was the only finalist of the 2021 Olympics in the individual event from the aforementioned pistol shooters. In the individual event, he had topped the qualification round but crashed out from the final by ranking 7th out of 8 shooters.

Saurabh Chaudhary’s partner, Manu Bhaker, was unfortunate to encounter a pistol malfunction during her individual event. Despite an unfavorable scenario arising, the World No.2 gave her best shot to finish 12th in the qualification round.

Abhishek Verma and Yashaswini Singh are World No.1’s in their respective individual events of the 10m air pistol. Both couldn’t break through to the final of their specific events. Abhishek ended up in the 17th place and Yashaswini finished in the 13th position in the qualification rounds.

The mixed event format of shooting sports is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo 2021. The ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) introduced this format in the year 2018 to promote gender equality and increase the audience appeal towards shooting.

The top 8 from the 20 participating teams in qualification stage 1 will advance to qualification stage 2. Of the remaining 8 teams, the top-4 will be decided in the qualification stage 2. The gold medal match and the bronze medal of the final will determine the podium standings.

Both the qualification stages, along with the final, will be played on Tuesday, 27th July. The timings are as follows as per Indian Standard Time:

Qualification stage 1 - 5:30 a.m.

Qualification stage 2 - 6:15 a.m.

Final - 7:30 a.m.

Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker are favourites - Prediction for 10m air pistol mixed event at Olympics 2021

Out of a total of 20 entries for this event, the one of Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker is valued to be the best. This pair has won 5 golds and 1 silver in the ISSF World Cup competitions. Abhishek and Yashaswini are also potential winners, should they perform well in Tokyo. However, they only have a single ISSF World Cup bronze medal in their kitty.

While Saurabh Chaudhary has two days of break in between to recuperate from his final exit, Manu Bhaker has only a one-day gap to shrug off her disappointments. Given the physiological weightage of the sport, the unfortunate incidents could take a toll on Manu’s upcoming performances.

If these four shooters turn up with their best game tomorrow, expect India to dominate in this event. If everything goes according to plan, both pairs of pistol shooters should present a strong case for a podium finish at the Olympics 2021.