Anish Bhanwala In Contention To Secure Tokyo Olympics Berth At ISSF World Cup In New Delhi 

After the pandemic forced the cancelation of most shooting events in 2020, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) announced a 57 member Indian squad for the ISSF World Cup from March 18 to 29. The competition will be the first combined International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) event, which will feature rifle, pistol, and shotgun shooters in as many as 30 events.

Shooting World Cup in Delhi !!At ISSF's Committee meeting in Vienna, it's decided that Delhi will host Combined ISSF World Cup before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.@OfficialNRAI | @ISSF_Shooting pic.twitter.com/uaT608zqgV

— The Bridge (@TheBridge_IN) August 13, 2018

The new team formats, which were approved by the ISSF last year, will also come into play. Moreover, each section will have 3 shooters and 2 more in the MQS (Minimum Qualification Score) category.

All selections for the Indian contingent were based on the latest NRAI rankings except Anish Bhanwala’s selection in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol squad.

aAlso read: Indian Athletes Who Have Qualified For 2021 Tokyo Olympics

2021 ISSF World Cup: Venue and Date

The tournament is scheduled to be held from March 18 to 29 at New Delhi’s Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range.

Participating nations

A total of 42 countries have confirmed their entries including South Korea, Singapore USA, United Kingdom, Iran, Ukraine, France, Hungary, Italy, Thailand, and Turkey.

However, a few countries like China, Japan, Germany, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Kuwait, and Malaysia have not sent their entries for the competition.

Significance of the ISSF World Cup To The Tokyo Olympics

The ISSF Shooting World Cup in New Delhi bears great significance in the qualification to the Tokyo Olympics qualification. It will determine which shooters will qualify for the Tokyo Olympics based on the World ranking.

According to the ISSF, the Shooting World Cup in New Delhi will be “decisive” for rifle, pistol, and shotgun events. Therefore, the shooters who are yet to qualify can do so through the world rankings at the tournament.

Moreover, competitors can also obtain the Minimum Qualification Standard (MQS) at all ISSF Championships scheduled before the qualification period ends on June 6.

India's Anish Bhanwala in contention to qualify for the Olympics

Anish Bhanwala youngest Indian shooter to win gold at Commonwealth Games

18-year-old teen sensation Anish Bhanwala has been picked in the Indian men's 25m rapid-fire team for the ISSF World Cup owing to his better prospects of securing a berth at the Tokyo Olympics. The teenager is ranked 12th in the World but 7 in India.

Indian contingent size for the ISSF World Cup

The 57-member Indian shooters contingent shortlisted by the NRAI includes all 15 Tokyo Olympic Quota Winners including Saurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker, and Anjum Moudgil. Notably, this is the largest shooting contingent in Indian Olympic history.

Manu Bhaker shooting at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympics

Men's Category -

10m Air Rifle Men:

• Divyansh Singh Panwar,
• Arjun Babuta,
• Deepak Kumar,
• Pankaj Kumar (MQS),
• Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (MQS)

50m Rifle 3 Position Men:

Anish Bhanwala

• Vijayveer Sidhu,
• Gurpreet Singh,
• Anish Bhanwala,
• Arpit Goel (MQS),
• Adarsh Singh (MQS)

10m Air Pistol Men:

• Saurabh Chaudhary,
• Abhishek Verma,
• Sarabjot Singh,
• Ravinder Singh (MQS),
• Shahzar Rizvi (MQS)

25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men:

• Vijayveer Sidhu,
• Gurpreet Singh,
• Anish Bhanwala,
• Arpit Goel (MQS),
• Adarsh Singh (MQS)

Trap Men:

• Kynan Chenai,
• Lakshay,
• Prithviraj Tondaiman,
• Zoravar Singh Sandhu (MQS),
• Namanveer Singh Brar (MQS)

Skeet Men:

• Angadvir Singh Bajwa,
• Mairaj Ahmad Khan,
• Gurjoat Siingh Khangura,
• Karam Sukhbir Singh (MQS),
• Amrinder Singh Cheema (MQS)

Women's Category

10m Air Rifle Women:

• Elavenil Valarivan,
• Anjum Moudgil,
• Apurvi Chandela,
• Shriyanka Sadangi (MQS),
• Nisha Kanwar (MQS)

50m Rifle 3 Position Women:

• Tejaswini Sawant,
• Sunidhi Chauhan,
• Anjum Moudgil,
• Gaayathri N. (MQS),
• Shreya Saksena (MQS)

25m Sports Pistol Women:

• Manu Bhaker,
• Yashaswini Singh Deswal,
• P. Shri Nivetha,
• Shweta Singh (MQS),
• Esha Singh (MQS)

Trap Women:

• Rajeshwari Kumari,
• Shreyasi Singh,
• Manisha Keer,
• Kirti Gupta (MQS),
• Neeru (MQS)

Skeet Women:

• Ganemat Sekhon,
• Parinaaz Dhaliwal,
• Karttiki Singh Shaktawat,
• Darshana Rathore (MQS),
• Zahra Mufaddal Deesawala (MQS)

Team Events

10m Air Rifle Mixed Team:

• Divyansh Singh Panwar and Elavenil Valarivan;
• Arjun Babuta and Anjum Moudgil

50m 3 Rifle Mixed Team:

• Sanjeev Rajput and Tejaswini Sawant;
• Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Sunidhi Chaudhan

10m Air Pistol Mixed Team:

• Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker;
• Abhishek Verma and Yashaswini Singh Deswal

25m Rapid Fire Pistol Mixed Team:

• Vijayveer Sidhu and Tejaswani;
• Gurpreet Singh and Abhidnya Ashok Patil

Trap Mixed Team:

• Kynan Chenai and Rajeshwari Kumari;
• Lakshay and Shreyasi Singh

Skeet Mixed Team:

• Angadvir Singh Bajwa and Ganemat Sekhon;
• Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal

10M Air Rifle Men Team:

• Deepak Kumar,
• Pankaj Kumar,
• Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar

50M Rifle 3 Position Men Team:

• Niraj Kumar,
• Swapnil Kusale,
• Chain Singh

10M Air Pistol Men Team:

• Saurabh Chaudhary,
• Abhishek Verma,
• Sarabjot Singh

25M Rapid Fire Pistol Men Team:

• Vijayveer Sidhu,
• Gurpreet Singh,
• Arpit Goel

Trap Men Team:

• Kynan Chenai,
• Lakshay,
• Prithviraj Tondaiman

Skeet Men's Team:

• Angadvir Singh Bajwa,
• Mairaj Ahmad Khan,
• Gurjoat Siingh Khangura

10M Air Rifle Women Team:

• Apurvi Chandela,
• Shriyanka Sadangi,
• Nisha Kanwar

50M Rifle 3 Position Women's Team:

• Anjum Moudgil,
• Gaayathri N,
• Shreya Saksena

10M Air Pistol Women's Team:

• Manu Bhaker,
• Yashaswini Singh Deswal,
• P. Shri Nivetha

25M Sports Pistol Women's Team:

• Manu Bhaker,
• Rahi Sarnobat,
• Chinki Yadav

Trap Women's Team:

• Rajeshwari Kumari,
• Shreyasi Singh,
• Manisha Keer

Skeet Women's Team:

• Ganemat Sekhon,
• Parinaaz Dhaliwal,
• Karttiki Singh Shaktawat

Upcoming ISSF Shooting World Cups

Following the 2021 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, the remaining World Cups will be hosted in -South Korea (Changwon), Azerbaijan (Baku), Egypt (Cairo), and Italy (Lonato)

However, India will not take part in the following ISSF Shooting World Cup in Changwon in April owing to the mandatory 2-week quarantine rule in South Korea.