Shooting, of late, has been quite a successful sport for India. The talent keeps on getting better and better. At the international level, Indians have been performing exceptionally well and are taking on the best of the best. India's performance at the Rifle-pistol World Cup had been phenomenal. India stood strong as the final medal tally was at 21 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze. India has secured 15 quotas in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics which shows us how high the standard of shooting has risen to in the country.
During the 2016 Rio Olympics,12 Indians qualified for the Games, but none secured a medal. This time India's chances are looking much better. In the pistol and rifle category, a lot of young talent has emerged. Some of the noteworthy talents are Manu Bhaker, Yashiwini Deswal, Divyansh Pawar and Sourabh Chaudhary.
Anjum Moudgil was one of the first shooters to make the cut. She won the silver medal at the 2018 ISSF World Championships which was the first Olympic qualification tournament.
Abhishek Verma managed to secure gold in his maiden World Cup finals that took place in Beijing last year. This propelled him to a seat at the 2020 Olympics.
Over the past couple of years there have been many shooters who have proved to be a force to reckon with, but let's look at the list of Indian shooters to keep an eye out on at the 2020 Olympics.
#1. Saurabh Chaudhary
There is no stopping Saurabh Chaudhary. The seventeen-year-old shooter has proven to be a fierce competitor at the elite level. At the 2018 Asian Games, Saurabh nabbed the gold medal in his category, i.e 10m air pistol.
In 2019, at the ISSF World Cups, Saurabh won the gold medal on home soil. This victory was extremely important as it had led him to secure a seat at the 2020 Olympics.
To win gold, he beat Serbia's Damir Mikec by scoring 245 points, whereas Damir had scored 239.3 points. This young and determined shooter is definitely one to look out for during the Olympics.
#2. Manu Bhaker
Manu Bhaker has become a household name with her recent successes.
Manu, along with Saurabh Chaudhary clinched all four gold medals in mixed air pistol during the World Cups. She even achieved gold along with Abhishek Verma during the Asian Championships.
Even though Manu came 4th in the ISSF World Cup held in Munich, she still secured a seat at the Olympics for the 10m air pistol event. It is worth noting here that Manu missed out on a medal by a mere 0.1 point.
#3. Diyansh Singh Panwar
Divyansh was the 4th Indian shooter to seal their spot at the 2020 Toyko Olympics. It was by winning his second silver medal at the ISSF World Cup held in Beijing that he secured his spot at the Olympics.
And believe it or not, he just lost out on the gold medal by 0.4 points. At the finals of the 10m air pistol event, his opponent Zicheng Hui from China scored 249.4 points whereas he scored 249.0 points.
The now 17-year-old also won 2 gold medals in the 10m Air Pistol mixed event along with partner Anjum Moudgil.
Divyansh is a young athlete with tremendous talent and he possesses the ability to win a medal at the Olympics